HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate wooden sailing ship of the line, best known for her role as Admiral Horatio Nelson's flagship during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. With years of service as of , she is the world's oldest naval vessel still in commission.
She was ordered for the Royal Navy in 1758, during the Seven Years' War, and laid down in 1759. A series of British naval victories meant there was no urgency to complete the ship and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in February 1763 meant that when Victory was finally floated out in 1765, she was placed in ordinary. Victory was first commissioned in March 1778 during the American Revolutionary War, seeing action at the First Battle of Ushant in 1778, shortly after France had openly declared her support for Britain's rebel colonies in North America, and the Second Battle of Ushant in 1781. The following year, Victory took part in the relief of Gibraltar and the Battle of Cape Spartel before hostilities ended in 1783 and she was placed in ordinary once more.
In 1787, Victory was ordered to be fitted for sea following a revolt in the Netherlands but the threat had subsided before the work had been completed. She was ready for the Nootka Crisis and Russian Armament in 1790 but both events were settled before she was called into action. During the French Revolutionary War, Victory served in the Mediterranean Fleet, co-operating in the occupation of Toulon in August and the Invasion of Corsica between February and August 1794. She was at the Battle of the Hyeres Islands in 1795 and the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797. When Admiral Nelson was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1803, he hoisted his flag aboard Victory and in 1805 took her into action at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Victory served as a harbour ship from 1824 until 1922, when she was placed in dry dock at Portsmouth, England. Here she was repaired and is now maintained as a museum ship. From October 2012 Victory has been the flagship of the First Sea Lord.
Design, construction and armament
In December 1758, the British Prime Minister, William Pitt the Elder, requested the building of 12 ships and within a matter of days, orders were received at Chatham Dockyard to start work on a first-rate ship-of-the-line as soon as a dry dock was available.Mckay (2000) p. 9Eastland & Ballantyne (2011) p. 13 Ships-of-the-line of this period were three-masted, fully-rigged vessels that were strong enough and powerful enough to operate in the line of battle,McGowan (2003) p. 3Dull (2008) p. 1 and first rates were the most formidable, carrying 100 or more cannon on three continuous gun decks.Konstam (2009) pp. 4-6
Sir Thomas Slade, naval architect and Surveyor of the Navy was selected to design the ship, the lines of which were copied from of 100 guns, built at Woolwich Dockyard three years earlier.Christopher (2010) pp. 15 & 16 The master shipwright in charge of construction at Chatham was John Lock but following his death in 1762, the position passed to Edward Allin, son of Sir Joseph Allin, former Surveyor of the Navy.McGowan (2003) p. 10 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 Victory was chosen in October 1760.Christopher (2010) pp. 17 & 20
The Seven Years' War had been going badly for Britain until 1759, when battles were won at Quebec, Minden, Lagos and Quiberon Bay. It was the Annus Mirabilis, or Wonderful Year, and the victories may have been in mind when the ship's name was selected.Stilwell (2005) p. 145 Alternatively, it may have been determined because Victory was the only name not in use of the seven shortlisted. There were reservations as to whether the choice was appropriate as the previous ship of that name had been lost with all hands in 1744.Christopher (2010) p. 19Goodwin (2004) p. 21
Around 6,000 trees provided the timber for the ship and 150 men were required to assemble her. Of the wood used in her construction, 90% was oak and the remainder elm, pine and fir, together with a small quantity of lignum vitae. Six-foot copper bolts were employed to hold the frame together, supported by treenails for the smaller fittings.Eastland and Ballantyne (2011), p. 39 As built, she measured along the gun deck, at the keel, with a beam of and a depth in hold of .Winfield (2007) p. 6 This made her 2,162 tons (bm) and she displaced .Eastland and Ballantyne (2011) p. 17
Once built, it was normal to cover the frame and leave it for several months to allow the wood to dry out or "season". French naval power had been severely weakened by the events in Quiberon Bay however and there was no immediate need for Victory which was left for nearly three years. This additional seasoning had a beneficial effect on her subsequent longevity.McGowan (2003) pp. 10-11Eastland & Ballantyne (2011) pp. 15 & 16Christopher (2010) pp. 20–21 Work restarted in autumn 1763 and she was floated on 7 May 1765,Christopher (2010) p. 21 having cost £57,748.1.7d.Winfield (2007) p. 6 During the 18th century, Victory was one of ten first-rate ships to be constructed.Christopher (2010) p. 16
When the time came to move Victory out of dock, shipwright Hartly Larkin designated "foreman afloat" for the event, noticed the ship appeared too wide to pass through the gates. Measurements confirmed the gap to be at least 9½ inches too narrow. Larkin's superior, Allin, considered abandoning the launch but Larkin enlisted the help of all the available shipwrights who, with their adzes were able to remove sufficient wood from the dock gates to allow the ship through. Once afloat a number of issues became apparent: A distinct list to starboard was corrected with the addition and redistribution of ballast to bring her upright but this exacerbated an existing and altogether more serious problem; the tendency for her to sit heavily in the water such that her lower deck gunports were only above the waterline. The latter could not be rectified so Victorys sailing instructions noted that during rough weather the gunports should remain closed. This had potential to limit Victorys firepower, though in practice none of her subsequent actions would be fought in rough seas.Eastland and Ballantyne (2011), pp. 40–42
Because the war with France had come to an end, there was no need for a strong naval presence at sea and Victory was taken down the River Medway where she was placed in ordinary.Christopher (2010) p. 20 Over the following four years, she was fitted out at a further cost of £5,426.1.5d and took part in sea trials.Lavery (2015) p. 51 Once rigged, Victory stood tall, from the waterline to the top of her mainmast.Goodwin (2004) p. 12 Powered by up to 37 sails, the maximum that could be set at any one time, with a combined surface area of 5468 square metres (6510 square yards), she could achieve 11 knots (),Goodwin (2015) p. 68 averaging 7-8 knots in a topgallant gale.Goodwin (2015) p. 148 When victualled and stored for six months service, Victory drew at the bow and at the stern. Fully manned, she would carry a complement of 850 men. At the conclusion of the trials in 1769, the ship was returned to her mooring.
Despite the outbreak of the American War of Independence in 1776, Victory remained in the Medway; she was too large to operate in the shallow waters around North America and it was reasoned that, because the Americans had no battle fleet of their own, there were sufficient British ships in service. The situation changed in 1778 when France entered the war with its powerful navy. Victory was armed with a full complement of smoothbore, cast iron cannon and mobilised for use in the Channel.McGowan (2003) pp. 16-17
Armament
Slade designed Victory as, nominally, a 100-gun ship.McGowan (2003) p. 16 When she was first commissioned, she carried ten guns on the quarterdeck and two on the forecastle, thirty guns on the upper deck, twenty-eight guns on the middle deck and thirty guns on the lower deck, but her ordnance changed a number of times during her career, both in terms of the number guns and the calibre.Goodwin (2015) p. 92 When Admiral Augustus Keppel chose Victory as his flagship in May 1778, he ordered the 42-pounders be swapped with lighter 32-pound guns, believing the marginal loss of power was more than offset by the increased manoeuvrability and thus faster rate of fire. Later, in April 1779, after Keppel had been replaced, the 42-pounders were reinstated, but following Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's appointment in 1803, Victory reverted to carrying 32-pounders once more.McGowan (2003) p. 17
Victorys armament was slightly upgraded in 1783 with the replacement of the 6-pounders on her upperworks with 12-pounder cannon, and the addition of two carronade guns, firing 68-lb (31 kg) round shot, to the quarterdeck.McGowan (2003) p. 18 She carried this higher rated armament on her upperworks, plus two additional 12-pounders on the quarterdeck, when she fought at the Battle of Trafalgar, along with the thirty 32-pounders on the lower deck, twenty-eight 24-pounder guns on the middle deck, and thirty 12-pounders on the upper deck; 104 guns in total. There was also a single slide-mounted carronade that was kept in the hold for use in boat actions. During a refit in 1806, the 24-pound guns on the middle deck were swapped for 18-pounders. These were removed in 1828 to make way for short 24-pounders while, at the same time, the guns on the upper deck were replaced with cannon of the same calibre but a much longer barrel of .
Early service First Battle of Ushant
Victory was first commissioned in March 1778 under Captain Sir John Lindsay. Being appointed only to oversee fitting out and delivery of the ship to Portsmouth, he held that position until May 1778, when Admiral Augustus Keppel hoisted his flag and selected Rear Admiral John Campbell and Captain Jonathan Faulknor as his first and second captains respectively. Keppel put to sea from Spithead on 9 July 1778 with around twenty-nine ships-of-the-line and, on 23 July, encountered a French force of more or less equal size and strength, some miles west of Ushant.Dull (2009) p. 101Rodger (2005) pp. 336–337 The French admiral, Louis Guillouet, comte d'Orvilliers, who had been instructed to avoid conflict, was prevented from putting into Brest, but retained the weather gage. Manoeuvring was hampered by constantly shifting winds and driving rain, but eventually a battle became inevitable, with the British arranged roughly in a column. The French were less organised but managed to pass along the British line with their leading ships. At about 11:45, Victory opened fire on the of 110 guns, which was being followed by of 90 guns.Christopher (2010) p. 38 The British van avoided significant damage, but Sir Hugh Palliser's rear division was badly mauled. Keppel ordered a pursuit, but Palliser did not conform, and the action was not resumed.
Both Keppel and Palliser were court-martialled and cleared of any wrongdoing but Keppel refused to serve again and Palliser, who had been somewhat criticised at his hearing, was not considered a prudent appointment by the Admiralty.Lavery (2015) pp. 59-61 Short of commanders, Sir Charles Hardy was forced out of retirement to take charge of the Channel Fleet. With Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt as his Captain of the Fleet, Hardy raised his flag aboard Victory in the March following.Lavery (2015) p. 61