was in sight. The two French vessels may have been the Marie Française from Bordeaux and the Desirée from Quimper. Pickle was in company with on 9 July 1805 when they captured the brig Argo and the sloop Nelly. Then on 19 July Pickle found herself becalmed in the Straits of Gibraltar. Two Spanish gunboats came up and fired on her until there was enough wind for Pickle to be able to maneuver to bring her broadsides to bear, at which point she was able to chase the gunboats towards Tarifa. However, the wind faltered, and seven Spanish gunboats came out to harass Pickle. Pickle was able to tack to the shelter of Fort Tangier, though one gunboat continued to harass her until the wind was strong enough for Pickle to sail away and return to the British fleet. Despite the duration of the engagement, Pickle suffered only one man wounded. On 29 September Pickle captured the American brig Indefatigable. Then on 9 October, Pickle accompanied (or Weazle) when they went to assist Captain Henry Blackwood in watching the coast off Cádiz, and to provide reconnaissance services for the fleet. Pickle managed to sail close enough to the coast to provide an exact count of the enemy warships in Cadiz harbour. Also, Pickle apparently managed to capture a Portuguese settee carrying bullocks from Tangiers to Cadiz. Battle of Trafalgar During the Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805), Pickle and the other small vessels kept well back from the fighting, as a single broadside from a ship of the line would have sunk her instantly. Pickle herself was stationed to the north-west of the weather line, where Nelson was leading HMS Victory into battle. In the later stages of the battle, Pickle, , and the boats of and went to the rescue of the crew of the French ship Achille, which caught fire and subsequently exploded. Together they rescued two women and somewhere between 100 and 200 men French guns "cooking off" as they became heated killed two or three seamen in other boats. One of the women was floating, completely naked, holding onto an oar; she was brought on board the schooner wearing a pair of seaman's trousers that a seaman on the boat that picked her up had taken off and given to her. Later she recounted how she had had to fight off a number of men who