<P> The British victory spectacularly confirmed the naval supremacy that Britain had established during the eighteenth century and was achieved in part through Nelson's departure from the prevailing naval tactical orthodoxy . Conventional practice, at the time, was to engage an enemy fleet in a single line of battle parallel to the enemy, to facilitate signalling in battle and disengagement, and to maximise fields of fire and target areas . Nelson instead divided his smaller force into two columns directed perpendicularly against the enemy fleet, with decisive results . </P> <P> During the battle, Nelson was shot by a French musketeer; he died shortly thereafter, becoming one of Britain's greatest war heroes . Villeneuve was captured along with his ship Bucentaure . Admiral Federico Gravina, the senior Spanish flag officer, escaped with the remnant of the fleet and succumbed months later to wounds sustained during the battle . Villeneuve attended Nelson's funeral while a captive on parole in Britain . </P> <P> In 1805, the First French Empire, under Napoleon Bonaparte, was the dominant military land power on the European continent, while the British Royal Navy controlled the seas . During the course of the war, the British imposed a naval blockade on France, which affected trade and kept the French from fully mobilising their naval resources . Despite several successful evasions of the blockade by the French navy, it failed to inflict a major defeat upon the British, who were able to attack French interests at home and abroad with relative ease . </P> <P> When the Third Coalition declared war on France, after the short - lived Peace of Amiens, Napoleon was determined to invade Britain . To do so, he needed to ensure that the Royal Navy would be unable to disrupt the invasion flotilla, which would require control of the English Channel . </P>

What was the goal of waging battle of trafalgar