HMS Pickle

The smallest ship in Nelson’s fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar was the curiously-named HMS Pickle.

The curiously named HMS Pickle was the second-smallest British ship in Nelson’s fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. She acquired enduring fame, however, as the ship that carried Lord Collingwood’s dispatch announcing the death, in the midst of battle, of Nelson.

A topsail schooner and deemed too small to take part in the line of battle, Pickle and ships like it were essential in the transmission of communication. Relaying messages between admiral and Admiralty, the rapid movement of these ships pioneered an early worldwide web of information that helped secure a British victory over Napoleon.

In this revised and updated edition, Captain Peter Hore describes the Pickle’s beginnings as a civilian vessel, her arming for naval use and the pivotal role she played in Admiral Cornwallis’s inshore squadron keeping watch over the French and Spanish. This full and captivating history narrates a colourful story of one small ship and the courage and resolution of her determined crew.