Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Steel

2009-03-01T15:36:29Z

JeffmanStan:

'''Steel''' is the name of an alloy created by adding an amount of up to 2 % carbon to iron.

Modern steels include other metals such as [[chromium]], [[molybdenum]] [[nickel]], [[manganese]] and [[phosphorous]]. Because even small amounts of these elements can have a dramatic impact on the propertoes of the steel, when buisnesses ask for steel to be made they must provide the exact percentages of how much of each element is required. Historically smiths have often accidentally created steel by forging iron with the correct carbon content, but the large scale manufacture of steel is a relatively new industry. Many famous structures such as the [[Eiffel Tower]] and [[Golden Gate Bridge]] are made of iron, as steel was too expensive to produce in large quantities. Large scale manufacturing of steel came about through [[industrial revolution|industrialization]] and the rise of [[corporation]]s, especially that of [[Andrew Carnegie]], allowing large industry to operate efficiently.

Steel has allowed great advances in the modern world due to its higher strength for low cost compared to iron. Many world-changing inventions such as the [[internal combustion]] engine would have been impractical without it, as engineers were able to build intricate parts with high strength and a wide range of working temperatures.

Steel is an alloy of Iron and Carbon. Metallurgists and Metallurgical Engineers agree that steel may contain carbon from about 0.03% up to about 2.00%. Alloys of iron and carbon with over 2.00% carbon are generally agreed to be defined as cast irons. The earliest forms of steel were devised using fulmination processes, but modern steels are generally produced in furnaces using sublimated extraction.

Plain carbon steels are those alloys of iron and carbon that contain Carbon, Manganese, Phosphorous, Sulfur and Silicon without the intentional addition of any other alloying elements, such as Nickel, Chromium (Chrome), Molybdenum (Moly)or Vanadium.

Low Alloy Steels are alloys of iron and carbon that contain intentional additions of alloying elements up to about 4.00% alloy content.

High Alloy steels are generally considered to be those alloys of iron and carbon containing over 4.00% alloying additions.

In the US, Plain Carbon Steels and Low Alloy Steels have been designated by a numbering system developed by the American Iron and Steel Institute - AISI. This numbering system is known as the AISI Steel Grade System.

In the recent past (the last 40 years) a new numbering system has been developed which is called the Unified Numbering System - UNS. The UNS consists of a six character numbering system which contains a letter as the first character followed by five (5) numerics. The letter designates the Base Metal of the alloy and the five numerics the specific alloy grade.

Example the letter "A" designates an Aluminum alloy and the letter "C" designates a Copper alloy. the letters "G" and "H" designate plain carbon and low alloy steel grades. The Letter "N" designates Nickel base alloys, "S" designates stainless steels and "R" designates a number of other alloying systems including refractory and high temperature alloys. The Letter "T" designates tool steels.

Example: UNS G41300 designates AISI 4130 a medium carbon low alloy steel containing Chrome and moly that is the "work horse" steel grade for American industry.

Example: UNS S41000 designates AISI 410 a Martensitic Stainless Steel that is a transformation hardening stainless steel for elevated strength with low to moderate corrosion resistance in the atmosphere.

Example: UNS S31600 designates AISI 316 an Austenitic Stainless Steel that is solution annealed non heat treatable stainless steel with moderate strength and with moderate corrosion resistance in sea water.

Modern steels have been made by a number of steel making processes, such as the Bessimer (obsolete process), the Open Hearth (also obsolete), Basic Oxygen Furnace, Basic and Acid Electric Furnaces, Induction Melting process, Vacuum Arc Remelting process and the Electric Slag Remelting process and many combinations of these processes.

Note: The structural steel material used for the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge was produced by Bethleham Steel (now no longer in business).

Phil Huff Metallurgical Engineer.
==See also==
* [[Steel industry]]
[[category:alloys]]

Manganese

2009-03-01T15:34:06Z

JeffmanStan:

{{Element | name=Manganese | symbol=Mn | anumber=25 | amass=54.938 amu | noe=25 | class=Transition metal | cstructure=Cubic | density=7.440 g/cm^3 | color=Silver/Gray | stableisotopes=1 | date=1774 | discname=[[Johann Gahn]] | origname=From the Latin word ''mangnes'' (magnet) | uses=Steel, batteries, ceramics, coins, fertilizer and animal feed additives | obtained=Pyrolusite, psilomelane, cryptomelane, manganite, rhodochrosite}}

'''Manganese''' is an [[element]] in the "transition metals" class of the [[periodic table of the elements|periodic table]]. It is hard and brittle. It reacts (slowly) with water, and with acids.

Manganese was discovered by [[Johann Gahn]] in 1774 by heating [[pyrolusite]] with [[charcoal]].

Manganese is used in small amounts to change the propeties of [[steel]] and other useful alloys.

It is remarkable in all the other metals in that it is formed by the radioactive breakdown of magnesium isotopes, yet is still found in sufficient quantities to be useful in common, everyday processes and materials. Manganese is found in [[pyrolusite]] (magnesium) ore along with magnesium, and the two are seperated in a process similar to that of the blast furnace, due to their significantly different melting points (one melts and is tapped off while the other remains solid). <ref>Wierd and Wonderful Chemistry, William A. Jotter, Salters Chemistry, 2002</ref>

[[Category:Elements]]

Manganese

2009-03-01T15:32:14Z

JeffmanStan:

Coca-Cola

2009-02-27T20:33:58Z

JeffmanStan:

'''Coca-Cola''' is a carbonated, caffeinated soft drink produced by the Coca-Cola Company. It was invented in the nineteenth century by John Stith Pemberton but the rights to it were later purchased by Asa Griggs Candler, who incorporated Coca-Cola Corporation in 1888. Pemberton originally intended it as a medicine rather than a regular drink. It was called Coca-Cola because it originally contained [[cocaine]] in it, although that was soon removed. It is made out of carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, cola,phosphoric acid and caffeine. The Coca-Cola bottle was designed early in the twentieth century by designer Earl R. Dean. Later on a rival soft drink company called Pepsi sprang up in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. [[Pepsi]] was invented in the 1890s and trademarked in 1903. The Coca vs. Pepsi economic wars became famous. During the Cold War the Soviet Communists chose Pepsi as their national soft drink [[franchise]] whereas the Chinese Communists chose Coca as their national soft drink franchise. Pepsi has done a better job than Coca in the non-soft drink and non-caffeinated market, but Coca does have a presence there. Coca-Cola owns Powerade, which is its equivalent of Pepsi's [[Gatorade]]. The Coca-Cola Company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a little-known fact that image of Santa as a fat, bearded man with the red suit was originally created as a promotion by the Coca-Cola Company. Coca-cola is also more widespread than the UN, being sold in more countries than the UN has members.

[[Category:Soft drinks]]

Bromine

2009-02-27T20:22:20Z

JeffmanStan:

{{Element | name="Bromine" | symbol=Br | anumber=35 | amass=79.9 amu | noe=35 | class=Halogen | cstructure=Orthorhombic | color=Red | date=1826 | discname="[[Antoine" J. Balard ]] | origname="From" the Greek ''bromos''. | uses= fire retardants, ingredients in bug and fungus sprays, antiknock compounds in leaded gasoline, and oil-well completion fluids. The remainder, as elemental bromine, is shipped to various chemical processors for use in chemical reagents, disinfectants, photographic preparations and chemicals, solvents, water-treatment compounds, dyes, insulating foam, and hair-care products. | obtained=Ocean Water & any brine source.}}

'''Bromine''' has the atomic number 35. Like [[chlorine]], it is a [[halogen]] that easily reacts with other elements. In nature bromine can only be found in compounds. These combinations are called bromides. Bromides are used to obtain pure bromine and to produce bromine products. After [[fluorine]], bromine is the most reactive element. It reacts with many different substances, is very corrosive and destructive of organic material.

Bromine is the only non-metallic element that is liquid at room temperature and standard pressure. It is a red liquid that easily evaporates and smells. Bromine is approximately 3,12 times heavier than water. At temperatures of 58,8 °C it becomes gaseous & at –7,3 °C and lower temperatures it is a solid.

Although practically all of the bromine used today is taken from the sea, it is also obtained in less developed countries by scrubbing the inside of clam shells with sodium chromate (more commonly called pumice), which subsequentially release their "captured bromine" in a process called clamscrubbification.

Bromine is a bleach. It is poisonous in fluid form and bromine vapor is destructive of human skin, eyes and respiratory tract. It causes serious burns. A concentration of 1 ppm can cause eye watering and when inhalation of concentrations below 10 ppm occurs, one starts to cough and the respiratory tracts are irritated.
<ref>[http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/bromine/130300.pdf U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries]</ref> <ref>[http://www.the-innovation-group.com/ChemProfiles/Bromine.htm Bromine Chemical Profile]</ref> <ref>[http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=4514 State of Arkansas Encyclopedia: Bromine]</ref> <ref>[http://www.geology.ar.gov/minerals/industrial_miner_a_d.htm#bromine State of Arkansas: Bromine]</ref>

== References ==

{{reflist}}

User talk:JeffmanStan

2009-02-27T20:17:56Z

JeffmanStan:

{{Welcome}}

A few useful links for you above. You might already know this, but to sign your posts (in talk pages only) put ~~'~~ at the end (without the apostraphe). Also, please write something on your userpage to get rid of the red name. Thanks! [[User:ETrundel|ETrundel]] 15:08, 27 February 2009 (EST)

Thanks for the info, especially on the four tildes. I'll get rid of the red name. Does it matter if I put nothing substantial? [[User:JeffmanStan|JeffmanStan]] 15:12, 27 February 2009 (EST)

:Sorry about that, it turned out that I posted on your user page, so I moved it here. As for content, as long as it's not rude, anything is ok. Consider my own, for example: 'Hi.' [[User:ETrundel|ETrundel]] 15:16, 27 February 2009 (EST)

::Thanks a lot for all the help, I reckon I'm ok now. Thanks again [[User:JeffmanStan|JeffmanStan]] 15:17, 27 February 2009 (EST)

User:JeffmanStan

2009-02-27T20:17:08Z

JeffmanStan:

Away with the red name. I'll expand this later.

User:JeffmanStan

2009-02-27T20:12:07Z

JeffmanStan:

Battle of Trafalgar

2009-02-27T20:10:32Z

JeffmanStan: /* Prelude to the battle */

[[Image:Trafalgar.jpg|400px|thumb|''Victory'' (center) breaking through the enemy line. A broadside has crippled the French flagship ''Bucentaure'', seen off ''Victory’s'' port side, while Nelson's gunners fire a second broadside into the ''Santisima Trinidad''. Just astern, the ''Temeraire'' manoeuvres to trap the ''Redoubtable'' between herself and ''Victory'' (''The Battle of Trafalgar'' Robert Taylor)]]

The '''Battle of Trafalgar''' was a naval battle fought during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] on October 21, 1805 off the coast of southwestern Spain. It involved the [[Royal Navy]] under the command of Viscount Admiral Lord [[Horatio Nelson]] against the combined forces of [[France]] and [[Spain]]. The destruction of the Franco-Spanish fleet gave Britain uncontested dominion over the world’s oceans for over 100 years, and it was because the British won the battle that they and not the French eventually came to rule an empire that included [[India]], [[Canada]], [[Hong Kong]], and [[Singapore]], and preside over a world economy in which [[London]] was the financial heart of [[Europe]]. The battle also immortalised the memory of Nelson who was shot by a French sharpshooter in the rigging of the enemy ships and died of his wounds at the moment of his greatest victory.

==Background==
In order to execute his plan to invade Britain in the summer of 1805, [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] needed to take control of the [[English Channel]] to allow his Grand Armée to safely cross. In preparation for this, he ordered the French fleet's three squadrons [[Blockade|blockaded]] by the British at [[Brest]], [[Toulon]] and other ports to break out and meet in the [[West Indies]] where they would regroup as a single fleet and return to take control of the Channel.

The French squadron commanded by Admiral Villeneuve at Toulon was able to break through the blockade in March 1805, and then joined up with a Spanish squadron, setting sail for the West Indies. Nelson received reports of the fleet heading for the West Indies on 10 April 1805 and took his fleet in pursuit, at which point Villeneuve decided that the odds were insurmountable and returned to Europe. A minor naval battle took place off Cape Finisterre on the west coast Spain, and Villeneuve was then forced to escape into the port at Cadiz in Spain. With the invasion now impossible, Napoleon turned his Grand Armée to attack Austria and Russia in the east.

==Prelude to the battle==
Nelson's fleet, consisting of 27 ships of the line, laid blockade at Cadiz, waiting for Villeneuve's force to attempt another break out. Following two years of blockading the French, the fleet was at its peak of fighting efficiency, and although the Franco-Spanish fleet had more technologically advanced vessels, including the largest warship in the world at that time, the 136-gun Spanish ''Santissima Trinidad'', his crews were better disciplined and trained; also, British morale was high, as Nelson was already a much-renowned commander, and it was firmly believed by the British (and not without cause) that their navy and sailors was the best in the world.

Towards the end of September 1805, Nelson briefed his captains on the battle plan, which required his fleet to split into three columns to punch at right angles through the enemy line, then overwhelming the centre and rear sections of the enemy's fleet in what he called a "pell mell" battle (from the French ''pêle-mêle'', meaning confused or messy). Captain Richard Keats, commanding officer of the 74-gun battleship HMS ''Superb'', later related Nelson's plan: ''He said to me, "No day can be long enough to arrange a couple of Fleets and fight a decisive Battle according to the old system. I shall form the Fleet into three Divisions in three Lines. One Division shall be composed of twelve or fourteen of the fastest two-decked ships, which I shall keep always to windward, or in a situation of advantage and I shall put them under an officer who I am sure will employ them in the manner I wish if possible. I consider it will always be in my power to throw them into battle in any part I may choose. With the remaining part of the Fleet formed in two Lines I shall go at them at once, if I can about one third of their line from their leading ship." He then said, "What do you think of it?" Such a question I felt required consideration. I paused. Seeing it he said, "But I’ll tell you what I think of it. I think it will surprise and confound the enemy. They won’t know what I am about. It will bring forward a pell-mell battle and that is what I want."''<ref>'''Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas''', ''The Dispatches and Letters of Lord Nelson'' (1844) London.</ref>

==The Battle==
On 19 October the British observed the Franco-Spanish fleet leaving Cadiz, under orders to try to break into the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. The main body of Nelson's fleet lay at anchor 48 miles off the coast and he immediately ordered pursuit. At dawn on 21 October the British fleet was only 9 miles away from the enemy, and at 11.48 am Nelson's flagship HMS ''Victory'' hoisted the signal ''England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty'' followed soon after by ''Engage the enemy more closely''. Having insufficient vessels to form the originally intended three lines, two columns were formed, led by HMS ''Victory'' and Admiral [[Cuthbert Collingwood|Lord Collingwood's]] 100-gun ship of the line HMS ''Royal Sovereign''. At this angle the British guns could not be brought to bear on the enemy, who opened fire with broadsides of their own uncontested. The wind had dropped and for the British fleet the approach was slower than planned, into a storm of cannon shot. Travelling at greater speed, Collingwood's ship breached the Franco-Spanish line well ahead of the rest of his column and the ''Royal Sovereign'' suffered heavily as she quickly drew the attentions of three French and three Spanish ships. As the columns cut through the enemy line they were able to "rake" their gunfire, firing into the bow and stern of enemy ships as they passed between them, this time the enemy guns unable to return fire.

The fighting that followed was severe and mostly at close quarters, the "pell mell" which Nelson had hoped for. Many of the British ships were seriously damaged, including ''Victory'' which had engaged the French flagship ''Bucentaure'' and the ''Redoutable''. Nelson was relying on the superior gunnery and ship handling skills of the British, which eventually forced the surrender of Villeneuve 1.45pm, although some of the Spanish ships continued to mount fierce resistance until 4.30pm. Nelson himself was shot by a French musketeer around 1.15pm, and died from his wound at 4.30pm, having been informed that the battle was won. His body was preserved in a vat of brandy and taken back to England for a hero's funeral.
[[Image:Nelsons column.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Nelson's statue atop ''Nelson's Column'']]
The total number of casualties on both sides totalled 8,500, and the British took 20,000 prisoners.

==Commemoration of the battle==
[[London]]'s famous [[Trafalgar Square]] is named after the Battle of Trafalgar, and features a statue of Nelson on [[Nelson's Column]], a 150-foot tall pillar in the center of the square. October 21st is celebrated in Britain each year as Trafalgar Day.

==External links==
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/trafalgar/index.shtml bbc.co.uk] Animated Map: Battle of Trafalgar. Accessed 7 January 2008.

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trafalgar, Battle of}}

[[Category:Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:Spanish History]]
[[Category:Naval Battles]]

Battle of Trafalgar

2009-02-27T20:07:12Z

JeffmanStan:

[[Image:Trafalgar.jpg|400px|thumb|''Victory'' (center) breaking through the enemy line. A broadside has crippled the French flagship ''Bucentaure'', seen off ''Victory’s'' port side, while Nelson's gunners fire a second broadside into the ''Santisima Trinidad''. Just astern, the ''Temeraire'' manoeuvres to trap the ''Redoubtable'' between herself and ''Victory'' (''The Battle of Trafalgar'' Robert Taylor)]]

The '''Battle of Trafalgar''' was a naval battle fought during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] on October 21, 1805 off the coast of southwestern Spain. It involved the [[Royal Navy]] under the command of Viscount Admiral Lord [[Horatio Nelson]] against the combined forces of [[France]] and [[Spain]]. The destruction of the Franco-Spanish fleet gave Britain uncontested dominion over the world’s oceans for over 100 years, and it was because the British won the battle that they and not the French eventually came to rule an empire that included [[India]], [[Canada]], [[Hong Kong]], and [[Singapore]], and preside over a world economy in which [[London]] was the financial heart of [[Europe]]. The battle also immortalised the memory of Nelson who was shot by a French sharpshooter in the rigging of the enemy ships and died of his wounds at the moment of his greatest victory.

==Background==
In order to execute his plan to invade Britain in the summer of 1805, [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] needed to take control of the [[English Channel]] to allow his Grand Armée to safely cross. In preparation for this, he ordered the French fleet's three squadrons [[Blockade|blockaded]] by the British at [[Brest]], [[Toulon]] and other ports to break out and meet in the [[West Indies]] where they would regroup as a single fleet and return to take control of the Channel.

The French squadron commanded by Admiral Villeneuve at Toulon was able to break through the blockade in March 1805, and then joined up with a Spanish squadron, setting sail for the West Indies. Nelson received reports of the fleet heading for the West Indies on 10 April 1805 and took his fleet in pursuit, at which point Villeneuve decided that the odds were insurmountable and returned to Europe. A minor naval battle took place off Cape Finisterre on the west coast Spain, and Villeneuve was then forced to escape into the port at Cadiz in Spain. With the invasion now impossible, Napoleon turned his Grand Armée to attack Austria and Russia in the east.

==Prelude to the battle==
Nelson's fleet, consisting of 27 ships of the line, laid blockade at Cadiz, waiting for Villeneuve's force to attempt another break out. Following two years of blockading the French, the fleet was at its peak of fighting efficiency, and although the Franco-Spanish fleet had more technologically advanced vessels, including the largest warship in the world at that time, the 136-gun Spanish ''Santissima Trinidad'', his crews were better disciplined.

Towards the end of September 1805, Nelson briefed his captains on the battle plan, which required his fleet to split into three columns to punch at right angles through the enemy line, then overwhelming the centre and rear sections of the enemy's fleet in what he called a "pell mell" battle (from the French ''pêle-mêle'', meaning confused or messy). Captain Richard Keats, commanding officer of the 74-gun battleship HMS ''Superb'', later related Nelson's plan: ''He said to me, "No day can be long enough to arrange a couple of Fleets and fight a decisive Battle according to the old system. I shall form the Fleet into three Divisions in three Lines. One Division shall be composed of twelve or fourteen of the fastest two-decked ships, which I shall keep always to windward, or in a situation of advantage and I shall put them under an officer who I am sure will employ them in the manner I wish if possible. I consider it will always be in my power to throw them into battle in any part I may choose. With the remaining part of the Fleet formed in two Lines I shall go at them at once, if I can about one third of their line from their leading ship." He then said, "What do you think of it?" Such a question I felt required consideration. I paused. Seeing it he said, "But I’ll tell you what I think of it. I think it will surprise and confound the enemy. They won’t know what I am about. It will bring forward a pell-mell battle and that is what I want."''<ref>'''Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas''', ''The Dispatches and Letters of Lord Nelson'' (1844) London.</ref>

==The Battle==
On 19 October the British observed the Franco-Spanish fleet leaving Cadiz, under orders to try to break into the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. The main body of Nelson's fleet lay at anchor 48 miles off the coast and he immediately ordered pursuit. At dawn on 21 October the British fleet was only 9 miles away from the enemy, and at 11.48 am Nelson's flagship HMS ''Victory'' hoisted the signal ''England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty'' followed soon after by ''Engage the enemy more closely''. Having insufficient vessels to form the originally intended three lines, two columns were formed, led by HMS ''Victory'' and Admiral [[Cuthbert Collingwood|Lord Collingwood's]] 100-gun ship of the line HMS ''Royal Sovereign''. At this angle the British guns could not be brought to bear on the enemy, who opened fire with broadsides of their own uncontested. The wind had dropped and for the British fleet the approach was slower than planned, into a storm of cannon shot. Travelling at greater speed, Collingwood's ship breached the Franco-Spanish line well ahead of the rest of his column and the ''Royal Sovereign'' suffered heavily as she quickly drew the attentions of three French and three Spanish ships. As the columns cut through the enemy line they were able to "rake" their gunfire, firing into the bow and stern of enemy ships as they passed between them, this time the enemy guns unable to return fire.

The fighting that followed was severe and mostly at close quarters, the "pell mell" which Nelson had hoped for. Many of the British ships were seriously damaged, including ''Victory'' which had engaged the French flagship ''Bucentaure'' and the ''Redoutable''. Nelson was relying on the superior gunnery and ship handling skills of the British, which eventually forced the surrender of Villeneuve 1.45pm, although some of the Spanish ships continued to mount fierce resistance until 4.30pm. Nelson himself was shot by a French musketeer around 1.15pm, and died from his wound at 4.30pm, having been informed that the battle was won. His body was preserved in a vat of brandy and taken back to England for a hero's funeral.
[[Image:Nelsons column.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Nelson's statue atop ''Nelson's Column'']]
The total number of casualties on both sides totalled 8,500, and the British took 20,000 prisoners.

==Commemoration of the battle==
[[London]]'s famous [[Trafalgar Square]] is named after the Battle of Trafalgar, and features a statue of Nelson on [[Nelson's Column]], a 150-foot tall pillar in the center of the square. October 21st is celebrated in Britain each year as Trafalgar Day.

==External links==
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/trafalgar/index.shtml bbc.co.uk] Animated Map: Battle of Trafalgar. Accessed 7 January 2008.

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trafalgar, Battle of}}

[[Category:Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:Spanish History]]
[[Category:Naval Battles]]

Horatio Nelson

2009-02-27T20:05:18Z

JeffmanStan:

{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="250" style="margin-left:5px"
|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:Nelson1.jpg|250px]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: green no-repeat scroll top left;"|Horatio Nelson
Viscount Nelson of the Nile and Burnham Thorpe
|-
|Born
|September 29, 1758
|-
|Died
|October 21, 1805
|-
|}
Vice-Admiral '''Horatio Nelson''' was the greatest admiral in British history, and victor in the [[Battle of Trafalgar]] which destroyed the French and Spanish fleets in 1805; this was also the battle in which he lost his life. A top [[British]] naval commander during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] with [[France]], he key roles in the victories at the battles of the Nile (1798) and Copenhagen (1801). He was also known for the scandal concerning his famous love affair with Lady [[Emma Hamilton]].

==Early years==
Horatio Nelson was the sixth of eleven children born to Edmund and Catherine Nelson. His father was a poor Anglican minister but his mother was the sister of the Duke of Oxford, a very wealthy aristicrat who controlled the Royal Navy. When the mother died, the duke took the boy, aged twelve, to sea.

He was a slight boy, not physically strong, and often sick, but at every opportunity he would seize the initiative and learn all he could. He had to learn how ships operate, and as a midshipman, how to lead men. But there were also times for adventure, such as his first voyage to the West Indies and a scientific expedition to the Arctic in 1773, where, on the ice, he stood up to an advancing polar bear; the crew drove it away and Nelson was reprimanded for leaving the ship without authorization.

By 1777, Nelson was a lieutenant, and had sailed for the [[West Indies]] to conduct operations against the Americans during the [[American Revolutionary War|American Revolution]].
==Captain==
By age 20, he was promoted to captain, the youngest officer to hold that rank in the Royal Navy, and was given command of a frigate, taking part in operations against the Spanish in what is now [[Nicaragua]]. Although the attack on San Juan was successful, it proved to be costly in the weeks afterward, as nearly the entire British force succumbed to [[yellow fever]].

In 1783 he was back in England, and given the command of another frigate the following year. Sailing again for the West Indies, he strictly enforced the Navigation Act, with the unfortunate result of making enemies of British authorities and merchant ship owners stationed in the Caribbean islands who had profited with the American trade that the Act had forbidden. Vulnerable due to the experience there, as well as the lonliness of command, he made a port call on the island of Nevis in March, 1785, and met the widow Francis Nisbet and her young son Josiah. He courted her for two years, and they married in March, 1787 on Nevis.

Nelson returned with his bride to England and found himself without a ship’s appointment and on half pay, which continued for the next five years, possibly the result of prejudice related to his enforcement of the Navigation Act]. But by 1793 events in France would determine the Navy’s course of action: the Terror would run rampant, [[King]] [[Louis XVI]] would face the guillotine, and Nelson was given command of the 64-gun HMS ''Agamemnon''.

==Mediterranean==
In the [[Mediterranean]], he was tasked to fight a losing defense of British allies and interests in the French port of Toulon against revolutionaries who were in the act of changing France from a monarchy to a republic; among them was a young artillery officer named Napoleon Bonaparte. Despite the loss, Nelson was content emotionally during the months spent there. On board his ship was a well-trained crew, and amongst his crew was his son whom he had taken on board; waiting for both was a loving wife. And it was during this time that Nelson changed from an enthusiastic young officer to a genius of a commander. Some of his success in his mission was due to the British minister in Naples, Sir William Hamilton.

Lord Hood had moved his base to Corsica after Toulon fell, and where Nelson and his crew went ashore to help capture Bastia and Calvi; a French shot ricocheted debris into his right eye, nearly losing it and rendering him blind there. An upsurge in French successes caused the British to abandon their bases in the central Mediterranean and consolidate at Gibraltar and the Tagus. Hood had earlier been replaced by two individuals, one of whom, Sir John Jervis, was a very experienced sailor who quickly recognized the command qualities possessed by Nelson.

[[Image:Trafalgar1.JPG|thumb|200px|left|''Battle of Trafalgar'' by J.M.W. Turner, 1822-24.]]

==References==
*Howarth, David, and Howarth, Stephen. ''Lord Nelson: The Immortal Memory'', Viking Penguin, Inc. New York (1988)
*Warner, Oliver. ''Trafalgar'', The MacMillan Company, New York (1959)
*Bennett, Geoffrey. ''Nelson The Commander'', Charles Scribner's Sons, New York (1972)

==Links==
*[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nelson/introduction.htm British National Archives: Biography of Nelson]
*[http://www.snr.org.uk/victory.htm Society for Nautical Research: HMS Victory]
*[http://www.solarnavigator.net/history/the_battle_of_trafalgar.htm Battle of Trafalgar]
*[http://www.aboutnelson.co.uk/englandexpcts.htm Nelson's famous signal at Trafalgar]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Horatio}}
[[Category:Military Commanders]]
[[Category:Military History]]
[[Category:Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:Naval Battles]]