Calder's departure narrowed Nelson's margin

Admiral Robert Calder's departure changed the force Nelson received for Trafalgar. At Cape Finisterre, Calder's fifteen ships of the line had faced twenty Franco-Spanish ships and captured two of them. He then returned to Britain amid a dispute with the Admiralty over the battle's reception, taking his flagship and other useful vessels with him. Those ships could have reduced Britain's numerical disadvantage at Trafalgar, where twenty-seven ships of the line faced thirty-three. The final order of battle therefore reflected an earlier engagement, institutional conflict, and a consequential choice about fleet concentration.