Admiral Lord Nelson’s famous signal, England Expects flies from the yards of his flagship, HMS Victory, on the 205th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. At Portsmouth Naval dockyard. The Battle of Trafalgar was fought on October 21, 1805 off Cape Trafalgar on the Spanish coast, between the combined fleets of Spain and France and the Royal Navy. It was the last great sea action of the period and its significance to the outcome of the war in Europe is still debated by historians.