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    HMS Victory Story
    HMS Victory Story
    HMS Victory Story
    Ebook71 pages36 minutes

    HMS Victory Story

    By John Christopher

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    About this ebook

    This is the story of Britain's most illustrious warship, immortalized as Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship in the Battle of Trafalgar. Constructed from the wood of over 6,000 trees, HMS Victory was designed as a "first rate ship," the Admiralty's designation for its largest ships of the line which packed a formidable punch with more than 100 guns arranged on three decks. In addition to the Battle of Trafalgar, HMS Victory saw action in the First and Second Battles of Ushant and during the Battle of Cape St Vincent. After bringing Nelson's body back to England, the Victory sailed out on a number of expeditions until her retirement in 1812. This magnificent ship is now the centerpiece of Portsmouth's historic docks and serves as the oldest naval ship still in commission. HMS Victory provides a fascinating insight into the lives of the British sailors who served on her.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe History Press
    Release dateFeb 29, 2012
    ISBN9780752485102
    HMS Victory Story
    Author

    John Christopher

    John Christopher was the pseudonym of Samuel Youd, who was born in Lancashire, England, in 1922. He was the author of more than fifty novels and novellas, as well as numerous short stories. His most famous books include The Death of Grass, the Tripods trilogy, The Lotus Caves, and The Guardians.

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      Book preview

      HMS Victory Story - John Christopher

      Winchester.

      INTRODUCTION

      Heart of oak are our ships, jolly tars are our men, We are ready; Steady, boys, steady! We’ll fight and we’ll conquer again and again.

      Heart of Oak, with words by David Garrick, became the official march of the Royal Navy

      HEARTS OF OAK

      Towards the end of the eighteenth century the old world order was undergoing something of an upheaval. On the other side of the Atlantic a bunch of colonists had the temerity to declare independence, while in Europe a bloody revolution and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte was stirring up a storm. The result was a succession of conflicts and, consequently, Britain’s Royal Navy was far bigger than it would otherwise have been during peacetime. This meant that there were more than enough glorious battles to be fought and great victories to be won to meet the needs of any aspiring hero.

      ‘Cometh the time, cometh the man.’ This adage could not have been more apt when applied to Britain’s most famous sailor, Admiral Lord Nelson. In the hero-making business here is a prime example of the right man being in the right place at the right time. If his times had been any less eventful then young Horatio might have stayed in Norfolk and become a clergyman like his father.

      Not only did he look better in a uniform than a dog collar, Nelson had extraordinary charisma and leadership qualities. The women adored him, his men would follow him into hell and back. What’s more, he had the foresight to die young – he was only forty-seven years old at Trafalgar – and to die gloriously, two essential elements in the creation of such a potent hero myth.

      Equally as famous is his greatest flagship, HMS Victory. It was not the only ship Nelson served on, and he was not the only admiral to hoist his flag on Victory, not by a long shot, but it was his ship at the most famous moment in his career and in the history of naval conflict. It also happens to be an extraordinary survivor, the lone one of her era. Following a hammering at the Battle of Trafalgar, Victory was refitted, virtually rebuilt, and went on to serve in two Baltic campaigns. Miraculously, thanks largely to the sentimentality of key figures within the Admiralty, she escaped the breakers yard. Unlike HMS Temeraire, which fought alongside Victory at Trafalgar and is famously depicted in J.M.W. Turner’s oil painting ‘The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838’.

      Most wooden ships of that time were only expected to last a dozen years, maybe twenty. Victory has been around for over 200 years and since the 1920s has attracted thousands of visitors to the historic naval dockyard at Portsmouth. She is an incredible ship; a unique time capsule of life in Nelson’s navy. When I saw her for the first time I was impressed by her size – much bigger than I had expected – a wall of black and yellow-ochre peppered with gun ports. She must have been an incredible sight when she was in full sail, and the concept of thirty or forty of these fighting ships slogging it out at close range is almost beyond imagination.

      Did you know?

      Horatio Nelson suffered terribly from seasickness throughout his nava career.

      Above all else, HMS Victory is an icon of those values which were so important in Nelson’s time – patriotism, heroism and an unwavering sense of duty. This is why Winston Churchill was photographed visiting the ship during the dark days of the Second World War. He wanted to assure people she was undamaged by the air raids. He also recognised the powerful symbolism she evokes, as did Hitler who talked of taking Nelson’s Column back to Berlin as a souvenir after the invasion of Britain. But Nelson and Victory had repelled one would-be invader and Churchill would thwart another.

      Victory’s heart is of strong English oak. When the celebrated actor David Garrick wrote the words to the song Heart of oak he was not only referring to the great ships-of-the-line, but he was also alluding to the men who served on them. This is their story too.

      BUILDING A FIRST-RATE SHIP

      This day will be launched His Majesty’s Ship the Victory, estimated the largest and finest ship ever built. Several of the Lords of the Admiralty, Commissioners of the Navy, and many persons

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