Art Marine
Pickle and Entreprenante patrolling off Cadiz before Trafalgar - Roy Cross RSMA
Pickle and Entreprenante patrolling off Cadiz before Trafalgar - Roy Cross RSMA
Original painting in acrylic on canvas.
Canvas Size: 32 x 24 inches, signed lower right.
Two of a multitude of small ancillary craft serving the British fleet, Pickle (left) and Entreprenante gained fame for their presence on 21st October 1805 at the great Battle of Trafalgar, dodging the firing-lines but rescuing wounded and injured seamen. Pickle of course, chosen for her speed, would have the distinction of conveying despatches to England with news of the great victory and of Nelson’s death.
Roy Cross writes “There appears to be no line or sail plan of Pickle and other information is sparse, but two models, one in the Chatham Dockyard Museum collection and one in the little Topsham (Exeter) Museum seemed to agree fairly well, and upon these I have based my impression’.
The 10-gun Entreprenante was captured from the French in 1798. Although damaged, she survived the great storm after the Battle and had varios adventures in the Channel and the Mediterranean before being paid off in April 1812.
Price on application - please contact Julian Thomas. A larger photograph is available on request.