Nelson’s victories at sea during the early years of the Napoleonic Wars made him a national hero. His unorthodox independent tactics (as a commodore under Admiral Jervis) led to the defeat of a Spanish fleet off Cape St Vincent in 1797. In 1798 Nelson virtually destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Aboukir Bay; he began his notorious affair with Lady Hamilton, the wife of the British envoy to the court of Naples, shortly afterwards, while stationed in Naples. He proceeded to rout the Danes at Copenhagen in 1801, but is best known for his decisive victory over a combined French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805; Nelson was mortally wounded in the conflict.