Cape St Vincent and the boarding decision

Nelson's supposed declaration that he would become either a hero or a corpse may have been contemporary or polished after the event. When his damaged ship came alongside the damaged San Nicolás and then San Josef, boarding offered a practical answer to an immediate tactical problem. Remaining aboard the first prize would have left his men exposed to the second Spanish ship without a useful firing angle. The celebrated boarding was a reasoned response to damaged and entangled ships rather than theatrical recklessness for its own sake.