Vertu, under Commander Montalan; and the corvettes , under Commander Gallier-Labrosse, and , under Lieutenant Descorches. Battle of Trafalgar At the Battle of Trafalgar, on 21 October 1805, Redoutable was commanded by Captain Lucas, with Lieutenant Dupotet as first officer. Redoutable was the third ship behind the flagship in the French line, coming behind Maistral's and José Quevedo's . When Neptune and San Leandro dropped behind Bucentaure, exposing her stern, Redoutable rushed to cover her and prevent Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson's from cutting the Franco-Spanish line of battle. With her bowsprit almost touching Bucentaure stern, Redoutable fired on Victorys rigging for ten minutes, trying to disable her to prevent the crossing of the French line, but did not manage to stop her advance, despite cutting off her foremast tops, her mizzen and her main topgallant, and ended up running afoul of her. A furious, fifteen-minute musket duel erupted between the two ships; the crew of Redoutable had been especially trained by Lucas for such an occasion, and soon the heavy hand grenade and small-arms fire on Victorys quarterdeck mortally wounded Vice Admiral Nelson. Lucas later reported: {{blockquote|a violent small-arms exchange ensued (...); our fire became so superior that within fifteen minutes, we had silenced that of Victory; (...) her castles were covered with dead and wounded, and admiral Nelson was killed by our gunfire. Almost at once, the castles of the enemy ship were evacuated and Victory completely ceased fighting us; but boarding her proved difficult because (...) of her elevated third battery. I ordered the rigging of the great yard be cut and that it be carried to serve as a bridge.<ref group=Note>il s’engagea un vif combat de mousqueterie [...] ; notre feu devint tellement supérieur qu’en moins de quinze minutes, nous fîmes taire celui du Victory ; [...] ses gaillards furent jonchés de morts et de blessés, et l’amiral Nelson fut tué par le feu de notre mousqueterie. Presqu’aussitôt, les gaillards du vaisseau ennemi furent évacués et le Victory cessa absolument de nous combattre ; mais il était difficile de passer à son bord à cause [...] de la supériorité de l’élévation de sa troisième batterie. J’ordonnai de couper les suspentes de la grande vergue et de l’amener pour nous servir de pont.Précis des événemens Particuliers survenus à chaque vaisseau français, dans le combat du 29 vendémiaire an 14, Report of Captain Lucas, commanding the ship Redoutable, to