and colonization. Some nations, especially especiallyEconomies including Britain’s, relied on trade and colonies because for subsistence as Britain was not self-sufficient in food or raw materials (Mather, 2014). In order to protect and maintain economic dominance at sea, military dominance was required due to competition. Another factor contributing to the significance of Trafalgar stems from the necessity for additional ships in the Royal Navy. The value of an individual first-rate ship of the line was colossal as the resources and time dedicated to the construction were economically draining. For instance, the HMS Victory took 6 years to build out of 6,000 trees, not including the 10 years of sea trials before being commissioned (Cavendish, 2009). Britain had been blockading France for 10 years at the time of Trafalgar without respite, which Braszak describes as “Ruinous to the ships” (Braszak, 2002). Britain began to have an inadequate supply of well-built ships – far fewer than Britain’s requirements to maintain a universal blockade. Consequently, most dockyards were fashioned for repairs, rarely building new ships. Britain needed a decisive battle to capture multiple enemy ships and commission them into the navy to maintain the depleting blockade. Finally, the significance of the Battle of Trafalgar was tied to the threat of a land invasion. The French admiral Villeneuve was returning to Europe from an expedition to the ‘New World’ to maintain order in the French and Spanish colonies in the Caribbean. (Lambert, 2004) In addition to hearing of the large French naval movement towards the English Channel, the British Admiralty received news that Napoleon was amassing his ‘Grande Armée’ on the French coast. The Admiralty understood that if the ‘Grande Armée’ was to combine with the French fleet, a land invasion of Britain would be imminent. For this reason, the British admiralty needed a decisive battle to cripple the French fleet, therefore preventing a land invasion of Britain. (National-Archives, Invasion Scare, 2005) Through the Battle of Trafalgar, the land invasion threat was eliminated. Trade dominance was assured for the next hundred years, and Britain commissioned received an excess of 19 captured ships on the line. (Augustyn, 2019)>