The British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 confirmed the nation's maritime supremacy and removed the threat of Napoleonic invasion, but saw the death of Nelson, struck by a French sniper as he strode the quarterdeck of his flagship, Victory. Eager to commemorate the battle, Turner went to watch the Victory return with Nelson's body to the Medway, and made numerous sketches when she anchored off Sheerness. The picture was exhibited in Turner's Gallery in 1806, but as a friend judged it a 'crude, unfinished performance', Turner reworked it for showing at the British Institution in 1808.