HMS Victory
is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, ordered in 1758, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is best known for her role
...Show more as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.
She additionally served as Keppel's flagship at Ushant, Howe's flagship at Cape Spartel and Jervis's flagship at Cape St Vincent. After 1824, she was relegated to the role of harbour ship.
In 1922, she was moved to a dry dock at Portsmouth, England, and preserved as a museum ship. She has been the flagship of the First Sea Lord since October 2012 and is the world's oldest naval ship still in commission with 240 years service by 2018.
Construction
In December 1758, Pitt the Elder, in his role as head of the British government, placed an order for the building of 12 ships, including a first-rate ship that would become HMS Victory.[2] During the 18th century, Victory was one of ten first-rate ships to be constructed.[3] The outline plans were based on HMS Royal George which had been launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1756, and the naval architect chosen to design the ship was Sir Thomas Slade who, at the time, was the Surveyor of the Navy.[4] She was designed to carry at least 100 guns. The commissioner of Chatham Dockyard was instructed to prepare a dry dock for the construction.[5] The keel was laid on 23 July 1759 in the Old Single Dock (since renamed No. 2 Dock and now Victory Dock), and a name, Victory, was chosen in October 1760.[6] In 1759, the Seven Years' War was going well for Britain; land victories had been won at Quebec and Minden and naval battles had been won at Lagos and Quiberon Bay. It was the Annus Mirabilis, or Year of Miracles (or Wonders), and the ship's name may have been chosen to commemorate the victories[7][8] or it may have been chosen simply because out of the seven names shortlisted, Victory was the only one not in use.[9][10] 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.[10]
A team of 150 workmen were assigned to construction of Victory's frame.[11] Around 6,000 trees were used in her construction, of which 90% were oak and the remainder elm, pine and fir, together with a small quantity of lignum vitae.[12] The wood of the hull was held in place by six-foot copper bolts, supported by treenails for the smaller fittings.[11] Once the ship's frame had been built, it was normal to cover it up and leave it for several months to allow the wood to dry out or "season". The end of the Seven Years' War meant that Victory remained in this condition for nearly three years, which helped her subsequent longevity.[13][14] Work restarted in autumn 1763 and she was launched on 7 May 1765,[15] having cost £63,176 and 3 shillings,[16] the equivalent of £7.92 million today.[Note 1]
On the day of the launch, shipwright Hartly Larkin, designated "foreman afloat" for the event, suddenly realised that the shi
