To a lover of naval artifacts, any relic from the Age of Fighting Sail is a special thing. And if it happens to have a Nelsonian connection, well, then, all the more so. And if, beyond all that, it happens to have a Trafalgar connection, then we’re into Holy Grail territory at this point. Such is the resonance of this assemblage of historical objects from the collection of a longtime Naval Institute member. The beautiful sword—from pommel to point a swirling feast of intricate, fancy detail work—was a gift from the grateful folks at Lloyd’s of London to Israel Pellew, captain of HMS Conqueror during the 21 October 1805 Battle of Trafalgar (the Conqueror was fifth in Admiral Lord Nelson’s battle line). The golden-lettered inscription on the blade reads:
From the Patriotic Fund at Lloyds to Israel Pellew Esqr. Captn. Of H.M.S. CONQUEROR for Contributing to the Signal Victory Obtained over the Combined Fleets of France and Spain Off Cape Trafalgar, on the 21st of October 1805.Overall, one has to feel a bit sorry for Israel Pellew: He always operated in the shadow of his more popular, famous, and successful older brother, Edward (who even gets to live on in English literature as a character in C. S. Forester’s Hornblower saga). But Israel, at least, would always have Trafalgar, and for his efforts there, a sword far too nice to ever actually use in a duel.
Rounding out the Trafalgar theme is a commemorative inscription plate bearing the timeless words of Nelson’s signal to his fleet at the battle’s outset, “England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty,” and a boarding axe from HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship at Trafalgar. The axe was discovered on the Victory’s main deck and removed before she went into drydock to be preserved at Portsmouth in 1922. Thus are the vagaries of circumstance through which some pieces of the past live on to this day, while countless others are lost in the grand river of time.