at the opening of the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. She engaged Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood's flagship off her lee beam as she approached, then raked William Hargood's as that ship passed Indomptables stern. Later, she engaged , and , losing her place in the line but regrouping behind the Spanish flagship . Downwind of the British and effectively out of range, Indomptable turned towards the bay of Cadiz. At about two in the morning of 22 October, her crew heard distress calls from the French ship which had struck a reef off Santa Catalina fort. The ship's boat was run out and brought alongside Bucentaure, whose crew requested an anchor and hawsers to secure their vessel. This became impractical as Bucentaure settled deeper onto the rocks and began to sink: instead, Indomptables boats began ferrying sailors off the vessel and back to their own. Rescue efforts continued until mid-afternoon on 23 October, by which time Bucentaure was completely submerged. Wreck On the following night, a storm broke Indomptables anchor chains and she was carried onto rocks offshore from Cadiz. Contemporary accounts estimate between 1,000 and 1,400 people were on board, including around 500 rescued from Bucentaure the previous night, and two men from who had been aboard Bucentaure as prize crew. Around 150 men survived the wreck, including just two of the twenty-four officers on board. Notes References Bibliography Ships of the line of the French Navy Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Shipwrecks of Spain Tonnant-class ships of the line Ships built in France Maritime incidents in 1805 Captured ships Napoleonic-era ships Maritime incidents in 1801