Napoleon issued at least eight major schemes for coordinating several fleets between September 1804 and September 1805. Each assumed that blockaded squadrons could escape when ordered, make long passages at high speed, and keep precise rendezvous despite wind, tide, and British opposition. Plans were cancelled before earlier instructions had necessarily arrived, leaving different squadrons trying to follow incompatible orders. Napoleon lacked a naval staff and treated Decrès as a secretary, so the confusion extended to the authority issuing the orders. The timetables ignored communications, weather, and an active enemy, making coordinated execution impossible.
Notable Point · 3:34-6:30
Napoleon's unworkable fleet timetables
French strategy depended on precise, long-distance fleet movements while assuming that weather and British reactions would cooperate.