How It Works-Amazing Vehicles

HMS

Victory

One of the most famous ships of all time,

HMS Victory was instrumental in ensuring

British naval supremac y during the late

18th and early 19th centuries

T

he only sur v iv ing warship to have fought in the A merican War of

Independence, the French Revolutionar y War and the Napoleonic

wars, the HMS Victor y is one of the most famous ships ever to be

built. An imposing fi rst rate ship of the line – line warfare is

characterised by t wo lines of opposing vessels attempting to

outmanoeuv re each other in order to bring their broadside cannons

into best range and angle – the Victor y was an oceanic behemoth,

fi tted w ith three massive gundecks, 104 multiple-ton cannons, a

cavernous magazine and a crew of over 800. It was a vessel capable of

blow ing even the largest enemy vessels out of the water w ith

magnifi cent ferocity and range, while also outrunning and

outmanoeuvring other aggressors.

Historically, it was also to be Vice-Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson’s

fl agship during the epic naval battle off the Cape of Trafalgar, where it

partook in the last great line-based confl ict of the age, one in which it

helped to grant Nelson a decisive v ictor y over the French and Spanish

but at the cost of his ow n life.

Sails

The HMS Victor y is a fully rigged ship, with three sets of square sails

covering 5,440m^2. The breadth of the Victor y’s sails allowed it to

sport a maximum top speed of nine knots when operational, which

was for the time ver y impressive considering its size and weight.

During the 18th and 19th centuries a fully rigged ship necessitated

three or more masts each of which with square rigging. At full flight

the Victor y could spread a maximum of 37 sails at one time and

could carry 23 spares.

Crew

There were over 800 people on board the HMS Victor y, including

gunners, marines, warrant officers and powder monkeys among

many others. Life on board was hard for the sailors, who were paid

ver y little for their ser v ices and received poor food and little water.

Disease was rife too, and punishments for drunkenness, fighting,

desertion and mutiny ranged from flogging to hanging.

Turner’s famous

painting of the Battle of

Trafalgar in which the

HMS Victor y is show n in

the midst of battle

© Jamie Campbell

HMS Victory

Class: First rate ship of the line

Displacement: 3,500 tons

Length: 227ft

Beam: 51ft

Draught: 28ft

Propulsion: Sails – 5,440m^2

Speed: 9 knots (17km/h)

Armament: 104 guns

Complement: 800

The statistics...

HISTORIC