HMS Victory – The last Georgian war
HMS Victory – The last Georgian warship
Visitor numbers are soaring as more and more people recognise the importance of Portsmouth Naval Dockyard's greatest tourist attraction.
HMS Victory was designed by Sir Thomas Slade, Surveyor to the Navy and cost a massive £63,176 (in today's terms that would be around £20 million and equal to the cost of building an aircraft carrier!)
Victory's keel was laid on July 23rd 1759 at No 2 Dock, Chatham Dockyard in Kent and she was launched on 7th May 1765. She was classed as a "first rate ship of the line' and was equipped with over 100 guns.
Immediately following her launch, Victory was placed in 'ordinary' (reserve) where she remained until the American War of Independence (1778) when she was completed and fitted out with full armament (104 guns).
Victory was refitted after each year at sea before again being placed on the reserve list in 1783. She returned to the fleet in 1789 following a period in repair and became the flagship of Admiral Sir John Jervis in 1796.
After the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, Victory was surveyed as 'defective' and taken out of service (she was 'paid off' at Chatham), serving in the river Medway as a hospital ship.
From 1800 to 1803 she underwent substantial rebuilding at Chatham Dockyard at a cost of £70,993 (the stern galleries were enclosed at this time).
Victory returned to the fleet in 1803 and served as flagship to Nelson until Trafalgar (1805). After campaigning under the flag of Sir James Saumarez (captain of HMS Orion' at St Vincent), Victory was withdrawn from active service in 1812. She served as a floating depot ship in Portsmouth harbour until 1922 when, under pressure from the Society for Nautical Research, she was towed into the Dockyard and given a permanent home in the historic No. 2 dry dock where she remains.
In recent years Victory has undergone a period of intensive restoration to bring her as close as possible to her Trafalgar condition in time for the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar on 21st Oct 2005.
The Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (1805) is considered the most decisive naval battle in history because it destroyed Napoleon's fleet of warships and wrecked his plans to invade England and dominate Europe.
For most of the period from 1793 to 1815, Britain was at war with France, and lived under the constant threat of invasion by Napoleon's forces. To attack Britain the emperor needed to gather a huge fleet of ships to carry thousands of soldiers across the Channel.
Napoleon's admirals were tasked with bringing a massive fleet of ships together so that an invasion could take place. On March 30th Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve's 17 ships escaped Nelson's blockade at Toulon, joined Admiral Gravina and the Spanish fleet from Cadiz, and together set sail for Martinique.
With Nelson hot on their heels the Franco-Spanish fleet could not attack the British colonies in the West Indies as planned so instead returned to Europe.
Napoleon ordered Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve to unite with other French ships at Cartagena in the Mediterranean. However, Villeneuve was aware that a fleet of 29 British ships of the line was in the area and that the Franco-Spanish fleet would suffer losses if battle ensued. Napoleon accused Villeneuve of cowardice so on October 20th the French admiral set sail from Cadiz.
Nelson's fleet effectively prevented the Franco-Spanish fleet from entering the Mediterranean Sea and forced them into battle off Cape Trafalgar in southwest Spain on 21 October.
Villeneuve had more warships than Nelson (33 to Nelson's 29) and was confident this would give him victory. He ordered his fleet to sail north in a single, irregular line. Nelson (in a prearranged plan) split his fleet into two squadrons and attacked the centre of the Franco-Spanish line at right angles.
At 11.50am Nelson, on board his flagship HMS Victory, signalled his famous message to the fleet: "England expects that every man will do his duty." Then, when the southern squadron, led by Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood on the Royal Sovereign, had engaged the enemy line, Nelson began to return fire against Villeneuve's ship, the Bucentaure.
The English ships broke through the enemy line and fired several broadsides. By 1700 hours the battle was over and the Franco-Spanish fleet was shattered. Admiral Villeneuve was captured, 7,000 enemy crew were taken, around 20 Franco-Spanish ships were surrendered and only 11 ships returned to Cadiz.
No English ships were destroyed although around 7,000 French and Spanish, and 1,500 British seamen were killed or wounded.
Many have claimed that Britain's greatest loss was Admiral Nelson. At 1.15pm, while the Victory was engaging the Redoubtable, a sniper hit Nelson in the spine. He died on board HMS Victory at 4.30pm, knowing that England had won the day.
Nelson's decisive victory at Trafalgar gave the British clear supply lines for Wellington's European campaign, which resulted in another famous victory over Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815.
Today, HMS Victory is the only remaining 18th century ship of the line anywhere in the world. She remains the oldest serving warship still to be in commission – she retains her own Captain, officers and crew and flies the flag of the Second Sea Lord, Commander in Chief Naval Home Command.
For more information about HMS VICTORY please write to:
The Curator
HMS VICTORY
HM Naval Base
Portsmouth
Hants
PO1 3NH
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