After Trafalgar

[Spearfish]

I read somewhere, and I cannot now find the source, that after the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 the Royal Spanish Navy did not build a warship until 1853, although at least one steam ship was acquired in 1838. This seems unlikely but is it true and, if it is true, what was the first new Spanish warship of the 19th Century?

[von thoma]

Not true.

After the disaster of Trafalgar in 1805, both the war and the transport navy were a pure balance. Spain had gone
from being the third largest maritime power in the world in 1795 to the bottom of the pack thanks to the genius
of Nelson, the ineptitude of Villeneuve and the laziness and misconduct of our rulers.

To meet the needs of our vast domains in the world, all our fleet could contribute after Trafalgar was the following:

In 1807 the Indagadora corvette with 26 cannons built in Ferrol was delivered to the navy.

In 1808, the first year of the war of independence against the French, five surviving French ships from Trafalgar
anchored in Cadiz under the command of Alm. Rossilly were captured by our Alm. Juan Ruiz de Apodaca ( later
appointed Count of Venadito and Viscount of Ruiz de Apodaca by the king ) and incorporated into our operations
squad.

They were the Atlas, Heros, Neptuno, Pluton and Algeciras, all 74 guns, while trying to repair the ships that Gravina
managed to save from that disaster, many of which could not sail again or simply had to be scrapped.


A list of ships construted in Ferrol from 1800 to 1850.

[Ironmachine]

although at least one steam ship was acquired in 1838

That steam ship was in no way the first or the only ship bought abroad by Spain in that period. Already in 1817, for example, 3 corvettes and 2 schooners were bought in France and in that same year 5 ships-of-the-line and 3 frigates were bought from Russia (and yes, they were completely
unusable, but that's another problem )

[Ironmachine]

Spain had gone from being the third largest maritime power in the world in 1795 to the bottom of the pack thanks to the genius
of Nelson, the ineptitude of Villeneuve and the laziness and misconduct of our rulers.

It was mostly the last factor. Whatever the genius of Nelson and the ineptitude of Villeneuve may have been, the problems the Spanish Navy had to form a fleet for Trafalgar, that is, even before those two guys had an opportunity to act, are well known, and in 1808, three years after Trafalgar, the Spanish Navy still had 229 ships, including 42 ships-of-the-line and 30 frigates. However, most of the ships-of-the-line were quite old and 35% of them were without their artillery. The frigates were more modern, but only half of them had their artillery. If we consider other factors, the number of ships-of-the-line and frigates ready for service would have been still lower. Clearly Nelson and Villenueve had nothing to do with that, and our rulers were solely responsible for the sorry state of the Navy.

[Ironmachine]

In 1807 the Indagadora corvette

It should be notede that in this webpage, which seems to be remarkably well sourced:
https://todoavante.es/index.php?title=Indagadora_(1804)
it is stated that Indagadora was already in service in 1804, that is, before Trafalgar.

[Sheldrake]

Who was the Spanish offier, a Trafalgar veteran, who was an observer on the allied side at Waterloo?

[Spearfish]

Gentlemen
Very many thanks for your detailed responses which clearly show that His Catholic Majesty's navy continued to receive new vessels after Trafalgar.
Thank you all for putting me right.

[Ironmachine]

Who was the Spanish offier, a Trafalgar veteran, who was an observer on the allied side at Waterloo?

Miguel Ricardo de Álava y Esquivel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Ricardo_de_Álava

[Sheldrake]

TY