HMS Victory - World Famous Sailing Ship
Her construction took over 6,000 oak trees and cost 63,176 British pounds—an equivalent to the cost today of an aircraft carrier. She required 850 sailors!
MOST of the world’s navies have contrived to retain some historic ship as an object of veneration and of inspiration to the younger generation. Of all these ships there is none to compare with Nelson’s flagship, Victory, which, restored with infinite care to her Trafalgar condition, now attracts thousands of British and foreign visitors to her berth in dock at Portsmouth Yard. Her pre-eminent position is recognized abroad as well as in England, and she is the most interesting ship in existence - she can no longer be described as being afloat.
The Victory inherited a name of magnificent tradition in the annals of the Royal Navy. The name was given to a royal ship in Tudor times, when England, by the spirit and gallantry of her seamen, was beginning to consolidate her sea-power. But the Tudor sovereigns knew well how to rouse the enthusiasm of their people. The naming of ships was only one of the means that they employed to raise the spirit of the mariner who, in successive ships, made good the boast.
The previous Victory, herself the finest ship of her day, had been lost with all hands. A disaster of this kind has generally debarred a name from being repeated. Happily, however, the authorities decided to override superstition and, when it was decided in 1759 to build a first-rate of the finest type, the name was selected for her. The Victory was not only to be powerfully armed - that was laid down in the “establishment” which controlled naval design - but also the designer was to be given a freer hand than usual in the matter of dimensions. It was intended that the Victory should be capable of showing the flag in every sea, and she was therefore given an unusually large stowage for drinking water. This provision would permit her to keep the sea for at least four months on end. Moreover, she was given an unusual freeboard, to enable her to fight her lowest tier of guns in any weather.
The Victory was so big that, in the same way as several other unusually large ships, she was not built on an ordinary inclined slipway, but in dry dock at Chatham, directly under the eye of the Admiral Superintendent. This dock was roofed over for the purpose and the ship was laid down there in July, 1759.
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was ordered in 1758, laid down in 1759, and launched in 1765. With 246 years of service as of 2024, she is the world's oldest naval vessel still in commission.
Victory is best known for her role as Horatio, Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. She additionally served as Keppel's flagship at Ushant, Howe's flagship at Cape Spartel and Jervis's flagship at Cape St Vincent. After 1824, she was relegated to the role of harbour ship. In 1922, she was moved to a dry dock at Portsmouth, England, and preserved as a museum ship. She has been the flagship of the First Sea Lord since October 2012.
Construction
In December 1758, William Pitt the Elder, in his role as head of the British government, placed an order for the building of 12 ships, including a first-rate ship that would become Victory. During the 18th century, Victory was one of ten first-rate ships to be constructed. The outline plans were based on HMS Royal George which had been launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1756, and the naval architect chosen to design the ship was Sir Thomas Slade who, at the time, was the Surveyor of the Navy. She was designed to carry at least 100 guns. The commissioner of Chatham Dockyard was instructed to prepare a dry dock for the construction. The Master Shipwright in charge of construction was Edward Allin, son of Sir Joseph Allin, former Surveyor of the Navy. The keel was laid on 23 July 1759 in the Old Single Dock (since renamed No. 2 Dock and now Victory Dock), and a name, Victory, was chosen in October 1760. In 1759, the Seven Years' War was going well for Britain; land victories had been won at Quebec and Minden and naval battles had been won at Lagos and Quiberon Bay. It was the Annus Mirabilis, or Wonderful Year, and the ship's name may have been chosen to commemorate the victories or it may have been chosen simply because out of the seven names shortlisted, Victory was the only one not in use. There were some doubts whether this was a suitable name since the previous Victory had been lost with all hands in 1744.
Interior, HMS Victory
A team of 150 workmen were assigned to construct Victory's frame. Around 6,000 trees were used in her construction, of which 90% were oak and the remainder elm, pine and fir, together with a small quantity of lignum vitae. The wood of the hull was held in place by six-foot copper bolts, supported by treenails for the smaller fittings. Once the ship's frame had been built, it was normal to cover it up and leave it for several months to allow the wood to dry out or "season". The end of the Seven Years' War meant that Victory remained in this condition for nearly three years, which helped her subsequent longevity. Work restarted in autumn 1763 and she was floated on 7 May 1765, having cost £63,176 and 3 shillings, the equivalent of £9.19 million today.
On the day of the launch, shipwright Hartly Larkin, designated "foreman afloat" for the event, suddenly realised that the ship might not fit through the dock gates. Measurements at first light confirmed his fears: the gates were at least 9½ inches too narrow. He told the news to his superior, master shipwright John Allin, who considered abandoning the launch. Larkin asked for the assistance of every available shipwright, and they hewed away enough wood from the gates with their adzes for the ship to pass safely through. However, the launch itself revealed significant problems in the ship's design, including a distinct list to starboard and a tendency to sit heavily in the water such that her lower deck gunports were only 4 ft 6 in (1.4 m) above the waterline. The first of these problems was rectified after launch by increasing the ship's ballast to settle her upright on the keel. The second problem, regarding the siting of the lower gunports, could not be rectified. Instead it was noted in Victory's sailing instructions that these gunports would have to remain closed and unusable in rough weather. This had potential to limit Victory's firepower, though in practice none of her subsequent actions would be fought in rough seas.
Because there was no immediate use for her, she was placed in ordinary and moored in the River Medway. Internal fitting out continued over the next four years, and sea trials were completed in 1769, after which she was returned to her Medway berth. She remained there until France joined the American War of Independence in 1778. Victory was now placed in active service as part of a general mobilisation against the French threat. This included arming her with a full complement of smooth bore, cast iron cannon. Her weaponry was intended to be thirty 42-pounders (19 kg) on her lower deck, twenty-eight 24-pounder long guns (11 kg) on her middle deck, and thirty 12-pounders (5 kg) on her upper deck, together with twelve 6-pounders on her quarterdeck and forecastle. In May 1778, the 42-pounders were replaced by 32-pounders (15 kg), but the 42-pounders were reinstated in April 1779; however, there were insufficient 42-pounders available and these were replaced with 32-pounder cannon once again.
Vice-Admiral Nelson hoisted his flag in Victory on 18 May 1803, with Samuel Sutton as his flag captain. The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Nelson (Volume 5, page 68) record that "Friday 20 May a.m. ... Nelson ... came on board. Saturday 21st (i.e.the afternoon of the 20th) Unmoored ship and weighed. Made sail out of Spithead ... when H.M. Ship Amphion joined, and proceeded to sea in company with us" – Victory's Log. Victory was under orders to meet up with Cornwallis off Brest, but after 24 hours of searching failed to find him. Nelson, anxious to reach the Mediterranean without delay, decided to transfer to Amphion off Ushant. The Dispatches and Letters (see above) record on page 71 "Tuesday 24 May (i.e. 23 May p.m.) Hove to at 7.40, Out Boats. The Admiral shifted his flag to the Amphion.
For a full story see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Victory
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