Battle of Cape Finisterre (Calder's Action)

22 July 1805, About 100 miles west of Cape Finisterre, Spain

British tactical victory; two Spanish ships taken, but Villeneuve got away

Coming home from the West Indies, Villeneuve's twenty ships of the line ran into Sir Robert Calder's fifteen, waiting for them off Finisterre. The battle was fought in fog so thick that ships could barely see their neighbours. The Spanish ships at the head of the Combined Fleet took the worst of it, and San Rafael and Firme, dismasted, drifted into the British line and were taken. Night ended the fighting, and for two days Calder, with damaged ships and his prizes to guard, did not attack again. Villeneuve went into Vigo and Ferrol, and then, instead of coming north to the Channel as Napoleon wanted, turned south to Cádiz. England was spared invasion, but the public expected another Nile. Calder was court-martialled and severely reprimanded for not renewing the fight, and missed Trafalgar.