HMS VICTORY - NELSON'S FLAGSHIP

HMS Victory now housed in Portsmouth Dockyard's No 2 dry dock, was built between 1759 and 1765 at Chatham Dockyard in Kent.

Designed by Sir Thomas Slade, the Senior Surveyor of the Royal Navy with a final cost of £63,176.

The Victory lay at moorings for 13 years after being built due to a period of relative peace. In 1778 with a war with France seemingly imminent, she was chosen as the flagship of Admiral Augustus Keppel.

HMS Victory saw much action, against the French with Keppel, Admiral Hyde Parker sailed her in the North Sea but she was deemed ill adapted for such narrow waters.

Admiral Kempenfelt took command in 1781 and with a squadron of ships managed to capture 15 French warships and forced them back into the naval port of Plymouth.

Lord Howe was the next commander to make HMS Victory his flag ship and she had a successful tour of duty in the Meditterenean, in Corsica seven of Victory's guns were dragged ashore and used in the taking of the town of Calvi.

Next in command in 1795 was Sir John Jervis, Victory was again based in the Mediterranean. In August 1796 HMS Victory was among 13 ships based at Toulon when an alliance between France and Spain meant that the British squadron was vastly outnumbered, Corsica was relinquished and the squadron sailed to Lisbon to join up with other Royal Navy vessels.

Nelson.

Nelson joined HMS Victory from Gibraltar and at the battle of St Vincent, with Nelson as Captain, Victory played a major role, Four prizes were captured with Victory having one casualty and eight wounded men.
After the blockade of Cadiz, Victory was surveyed and deemed not fit for service, she returned to Chatham and spent a period on the River Medway serving as a hospital ship.

From 1800 to 1803 she underwent substantial rebuilding at Chatham Dockyard at a cost of £70,993.

Battle of Trafalgar.

HMS Victory returned to the fleet in 1803 and was Nelsons flagship until the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Nelson's famous victory at Trafalgar helped give the British clear supply lines for the Army's European campaign, this was crucial in allowing Wellington to defeat Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815.

No English ships were destroyed at Trafalgar but 7,000 French and Spanish, and 1,500 British seamen were killed or wounded, among them of course was Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson himself. During Victorys engagement of the Redoubtable, a sniper hit Nelson in the spine.
In 1812 the Victory was retired from duty and anchored in Portsmouth Harbour. For the next 110 years the Victory remained moored in Portsmouth Harbour fulfilling a combination of practical and ceremonial roles, latterly as a floating depot ship.

Restoration of HMS Victory.

In 1922, under pressure from the Society for Nautical Research, the Victory was placed in No2 Dry Dock in Portsmouth's Royal Naval Dockyard. Work then began on restoring HMS Victory to her 1805 condition.

HMS Victory is the only remaining 18th century ship of the line anywhere in the world. She is the oldest serving warship still in commission, she flies the flag of the Second Sea Lord, Commander in Chief Naval Home Command and still has her own Captain, officers and crew.

For details on visiting HMS Victory click this link Historic Dockyard website.