Page:The history of yachting.djvu/450

 218 smaller vessels,—total, 59. During these wars the Government frequently availed itself of the ships and seamen belonging to the East India Company, which did excellent service.

At the end of that century Great Britain possessed a navy and mercantile marine probably equal to the combined powers of Europe. Not, perhaps, in the number or in even the fighting power of her ships and guns; but in the skill and courage of her seamen, in their stern reliance upon themselves,—the fruit of many a hard-fought battle upon the ocean,—crowned by the glorious victory at Trafalgar, although in that action the greatest of all England's naval heroes fell wounded unto death.

In 1805 Pocock painted the portraits of the Agamemnon, Captain, Vanguard, Elephant, and Victory, the five ships with which Lord Nelson achieved his memorable victories. The picture is here produced.

And yet, despite this power, this magnificent navy of Great Britain was unable in 1812 to conquer the United States upon the sea, nor even render the English and St. George's Channels safe avenues of commerce for the merchant ships of Great Britain. The massive construction and weight of the British men-of-war was their greatest source of weakness—they could seldom cope successfully with the heavily armed, light-built, swift, and skilfully-handled American frigates and privateers.