HMS Victory

HMS "Victory" is a first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built between 1759 and 1765, and most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar. She is the oldest naval ship still in commission. She sits in dry dock in Portsmouth, England as a museum ship.

Construction

In December 1758, the commissioner of Chatham Dockyard was instructed to prepare a dry dock for the construction of a new first-rate ship. This was an unusual occurrence at the time; during the whole of the 18th century only ten were constructed—the Royal Navy preferred smaller and more manoeuvrable ships and it was unusual for more than two to be in commission simultaneously.

The outline plans arrived in June 1759 and were based on HMS "Royal George" which had been launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1756. The naval architect chosen to design the ship was Sir Thomas Slade who, at the time, was the appointed Surveyor of the Navy. She was nominally designed to carry at least 100 guns and, in practice, her armament varied from 104 to 106 guns and carronades.

The keel was laid on 23 July 1759 in the Old Single Dock (since renamed No. 2 Dock and now Victory Dock), and the name was finally chosen in October 1760. It was to commemorate the "Annus Mirabilis" or Year of Victories, of 1759. In that year of the Seven Years' War, land victories had been won at Quebec, Minden and naval battles had been won at Lagos and Quiberon Bay. There were some doubts whether this was a suitable name since the previous first-rate "Victory" had been lost with all on board in 1744.

Once the frame had been constructed, it was normal to cover the ship up and leave it for several months to season. However, the end of the Seven Years' War meant that she remained in this condition for nearly three years, which helped her subsequent longevity. Work restarted in autumn 1763 and she was finally launched on 7 May 1765, having cost £63,176 and 3 shillings (present day £50 million) and used around 6000 trees, 90% of which were oak and the remainder elm, pine and fir.

Because there was no immediate use for her, she was placed in "ordinary"—in reserve, roofed over, demasted and placed under general maintenance—moored in the River Medway for 13 years until France joined the American War of Independence.

In March 1778, John Lindsay was appointed her first captain, but he was transferred to captain HMS|Prince George|1772|6 in May 1778 when Admiral the Honorable Augustus Keppel decided to raise his flag in "Victory". She was commissioned in May 1778 under the command of Rear Admiral John Campbell (1st Captain) and Captain Jonathan Faulknor (2nd Captain), with the flag of Admiral Keppel. She was armed with smooth bore, cast iron cannon 30 × 32 and 42 pounders (15 and 19 kg), 30 × 24 pounders (11 kg), and 40 × 12 pounders (5 kg). Later, she also carried two carronade guns, firing 68 lb (31 kg) round shot.

In service

First Battle of Ushant

Keppel put to sea from Spithead on 9 July, 1778, with a force of thirty ships of the line and, on 23 July, sighted a French fleet of twenty-nine ships 100 miles (160 km) west of Ushant. The French Admiral, Louis Guillouet, comte d'Orvilliers, who had orders to avoid battle, was cut off from Brest but retained the weather gage. Two of his ships escaped into port leaving him with twenty-seven. The two fleets manoeuvred during shifting winds and a heavy rain squall until a battle became inevitable with the British more or less in column and the French in some confusion. However, the French managed to pass along the British line with their most advanced ships. At about a quarter to twelve "Victory" opened fire on the "Bretagne" of 110 guns, which was being followed by the "Ville de Paris" of 90 guns. The British van escaped with little loss but Sir Hugh Palliser's rear division suffered considerably. Keppel made the signal to follow the French but Palliser did not conform and the action was not resumed. Keppel was court martialled and cleared and Palliser criticised by an inquiry before the affair turned into a party political squabble.

econd Battle of Ushant

In March 1780, the hull below "Victory"'s waterline was sheathed with 3,923 sheets of copper to protect it against shipworm, and on 2 December, 1781, the ship, now commanded by Captain Henry Cromwell and bearing the flag of Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt, sailed with eleven other ships of the line, a 50-gun fourth-rate, and five frigates, to intercept a French convoy that sailed from Brest on 10 December. Ignorant of the fact that the convoy was protected by twenty-one ships of the line under the command of Luc Urbain de Bouexic, comte de Guichen, Kempenfelt ordered a chase when they were sighted on 12 December and began the Second Battle of Ushant. When he noted the French superiority he contented himself with capturing fifteen sail of the convoy. The French were dispersed in a gale and forced to return home.

Battle of Cape St. Vincent

In 1796 Captain Robert Calder (First Captain) and Captain George Grey (Second Captain) commanded "Victory" under Admiral Sir John Jervis's flag. Sir John Jervis sailed from the Tagus on 18 January, 1797, and after being reinforced on 6 February by five ships from England, his fleet consisted of fifteen sail of the line and six frigates. On 14 February, the Portuguese frigate "Carlotta", commanded by a Scotsman named Campbell with a Portuguese commission, brought news that a Spanish fleet was close. Jervis manoeuvred to intercept, and the Battle of Cape St Vincent was joined. "Principe de Asturias", leading the Spanish leeward division, tried to break through the British line ahead or astern of "Victory" but that ship poured such a tremendous fire into her, followed by several raking broadsides, that the whole Spanish division wore round and bore up. Horatio Nelson, in HMS "Captain" (primarily), also played a decisive role in this action.

Reconstruction

In February 1798, "Victory" was stationed at Chatham under the command of Lieutenant J. Rickman. On 8 December, unfit for service as a warship, she was ordered to be converted to a hospital ship to hold wounded French and Spanish prisoners of war. In 1799, Rickman was relieved by Lieutenant J. Busbridge.

However on 8 October 1799 HMS|Impregnable|1786|6 was lost off Chichester, having run aground on her way back to Portsmouth after escorting a convoy to Lisbon. She could not be refloated and so was stripped and dismantled. Consequently, now short of a first rate, the Admiralty decided to recondition "Victory". Work started in 1800 but as it proceeded an increasing number of defects were found and the repairs developed into a very extensive reconstruction. The original estimate was £23,500 but the final cost was £70,933.

Extra gun ports were added, taking her from 100 guns to 104, and her magazine lined with copper. Her figurehead was replaced along with her masts and the paint scheme changed from red to the black and yellow seen today. Her gun ports were originally yellow to match the hull but later repainted black, giving a pattern later called the "Nelson chequer" and which was subsequently adopted by all Royal Navy ships after the Battle of Trafalgar. The work was completed on 11 April 1803 and the ship left for Portsmouth on 14 May under her new captain, Samuel Sutton.

Nelson

Vice-Admiral Nelson hoisted his flag in "Victory" on 16 May 1803 with Samuel Sutton as his flag captain and sailed to assume command in the Mediterranean on 20 May. Nelson transferred to the faster frigate "Amphion" on 23 May.

On 28 May Captain Sutton captured the French "Embuscade" of 32 guns, bound for Rochefort from San Domingo. "Victory" rejoined Lord Nelson off Toulon on 30 July when Captain Sutton exchanged commands with the captain of the "Amphion", Thomas Masterman Hardy.

"Victory" was passing the island of Toro on 4 April, 1805, when HMS "Phoebe" brought the news that the French fleet under Pierre-Charles Villeneuve had escaped from Toulon. While Nelson made for Sicily to see if the French were heading for Egypt, Villeneuve was entering Cádiz to link up with the Spanish fleet. On 7 May Nelson reached Gibraltar and received his first definite news. The British fleet completed their stores in Lagos Bay, Portugal, on 10 May and two days later sailed westward with ten ships and three frigates in pursuit of the combined Franco-Spanish fleet of 17 ships. They arrived in the West Indies to find that the enemy was sailing back to Europe where Napoleon Bonaparte was waiting for them with his invasion forces at Boulogne.

The Franco-Spanish fleet was involved in the indecisive Battle of Cape Finisterre in fog off Ferrol with Admiral Sir Robert Calder's squadron on 22 July before taking refuge in Vigo and Ferrol to land wounded and abandon three damaged ships. Calder on 14 August and Nelson on 15 August joined Admiral Cornwallis's Channel Fleet off Ushant. Nelson continued to England in "Victory" leaving his Mediterranean fleet with Cornwallis who detached twenty of his thirty-three ships of the line and sent them under Calder to find the combined fleet at Ferrol. On 19 August came the worrying news that the enemy had sailed from there, followed by relief when they arrived in Cádiz two days later. On the evening of Saturday, 28 September, Lord Nelson joined Lord Collingwood's fleet off Cádiz, quietly, so that his presence would not be known.

When Admiral Villeneuve learned that he was to be removed from command he took his ships to sea on the morning of 19 October, first sailing south towards the Mediterranean but then turning north towards the British fleet, beginning the Battle of Trafalgar. Nelson had already made his plans: to break the enemy line some two or three ships ahead of their Commander in Chief in the centre and achieve victory before the van could come to their aid. In the event fitful winds made it a slow business. For five hours after Nelson's last manoeuvring signal the two columns of British ships slowly approached the French line before "Royal Sovereign", leading the lee column, was able to open fire on "Fougueux". Twenty five minutes later "Victory" broke the line between "Bucentaure" and "Redoutable" firing a treble shotted broadside into the stern of the former from a range of a few yards. At 25 minutes past one Nelson was shot, the fatal musket ball entering his left shoulder and lodging in his spine. He died at half past four. Such killing had taken place on "Victory"'s quarter deck that "Redoutable" attempted to board her, but they were thwarted by the arrival of Eliab Harvey in the 98-gun HMS "Temeraire", whose broadside devastated the French ship. [cite book |last=Warwick |title=Voices from the Battle of Trafalgar |pages=p. 200-1] Nelson's last order was for the fleet to anchor but this was rejected by Vice Admiral Collingwood. "Victory" lost 57 killed and 102 wounded.

After Trafalgar

"Victory" took Nelson's body to England where, after lying in state at Greenwich, he was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral on 6 January, 1806.

"Victory" bore many Admirals' flags after Trafalgar, and sailed on numerous expeditions, including two Baltic campaigns under Admiral Sir James Saumarez. Her active career ended on 7 November, 1812, when she was moored in Portsmouth Harbour off Gosport and used as a depot ship.

It is said that when Thomas Hardy was First Sea Lord, he told his wife on returning home, that he had just signed an order for "Victory" to be broken up. She burst into tears and sent him straight back to his office to rescind the order. Though this story may be apocryphal, the page of the duty log containing the orders for that day is missing, having been torn out.

In 1889, "Victory" was fitted up as a Naval School of Telegraphy. It soon became a proper Signal School, and signal ratings from ships paying off were sent to "Victory" instead of the barracks, for a two-month training course. The School remained on "Victory" until 1904, when training was transferred temporarily to HMS "Hercules", and in 1906 the whole School was moved to a permanent establishment at the Royal Naval Barracks.

As the years passed by, "Victory" slowly deteriorated at her moorings. A campaign to save her was started in 1921 with the "Save the "Victory" Fund" under the aegis of the Society for Nautical Research, by which time she was in very poor condition. The outcome of the campaign was that the British Government agreed to restore and preserve her to commemorate Nelson, the Battle of Trafalgar and the Royal Navy's supremacy that existed for some time before during and after the Napoleonic period.

On 12 January 1922 she was moved into the oldest drydock in the world: No. 2 dock at Portsmouth for restoration. In 1928 King George V was able to unveil a tablet celebrating the completion of the work, although restoration and maintenance still continued under the supervision of the Society for Nautical Research. In 1941, "Victory" sustained some damage from a bomb dropped by the Luftwaffe that impacted into her dry dock causing damage to the hull. On one occasion German Radio Propaganda claimed that the ship had been destroyed by a bomb, and the Admiralty had to issue a denial.

Over the last few years the ship has undergone another very extensive restoration to bring her appearance to as close as possible to that which she had at Trafalgar for the bicentenary of the battle in October 2005. Replicas of items including mess bowls, beakers and tankards in the 'Marine's Mess', and a toothbrush, shaving brush and wash bowl in 'Hardy's Cabin' are on display.

HMS "Victory" is still in commission as the flagship of the Second Sea Lord in his role as Commander in Chief of the Royal Navy's Home Command (CINCNAVHOME). She is the oldest commissioned warship in the world, although the USS "Constitution", launched 30 years later, is the oldest commissioned warship still afloat. "Victory" attracts around 350,000 visitors per year in her role as a museum ship.

The "Victory"'s foretopsail was severely damaged during the battle of Trafalgar, perforated by upwards of 90 cannonballs and other projectiles. It was replaced after the battle but was preserved, and eventually came to be displayed in the Royal Naval Museum. The sail is laid out across a large chamber, illuminated by alternating lowlight projectors.

The name is also used to refer to the westernmost entrance (Victory Gate) to the Royal Navy's facility in Portsmouth, HMS "Nelson".

The current and 99th commanding officer is Lt-Cdr Douglas J 'Oscar' Whild Royal Navy, who assumed command on 1 September, 2008 [ [http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.13579 Royal Navy MOD site "Oscar Makes 99th Commanding Officer for HMS Victory"] ] .

The most senior Trafalgar descendant alive and HON Commanding officer is James Hardy.

Admirals who have hoisted their flag in "Victory"

Over the two centuries since "Victory"'s launch, numerous admirals have hoisted their flag in her:

Gallery

Notes

References

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*Lavery, Brian (2003) "The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850." Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.

External links

* [http://www.hms-victory.com/ HMS "Victory"] Royal Navy website
* [http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk The home of HMS "Victory"] Official website
* [http://y2u.co.uk/&002_Images/Victory%20Nelson%2001.htm Pictures of HMS "Victory"]
* [http://www.snr.org.uk/victory.htm Restoration of HMS Victory] Society for Nautical Research website
* [http://modelshipbuilder.com/models/model-ship-builder-john-reid.html "HMS Victory Model"] - A historically accurate wooden scaled model ship of HMS Victory.
* [http://www.nelsonsvictory.co.uk Nelson's "Victory"]
* [http://www.hmsvictory.ngfl.gov.uk/ Life onboard HMS "Victory"]
* [http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Ships/War/GB/Victory(1765).html HMS "Victory" datasheet]
* [http://rnca.twinlogix.com/node/1035 Royal Naval Communications Association, Communications History - The First Signal Schools]
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/pages/ships_of_the_line/hms_victory_page_1.htm MaritimeQuest HMS Victory Photo Gallery]
* [http://www.hmsvictory.de HMS Victory-Website by Heinrich Siemers with many historical and technical details]
* [http://www.hnsa.org/ships/victory.htm HNSA Ship Page: HMS "Victory"]