Occasional Scribbles

Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte 1758 – 1805 died aboard his flagship, HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar as is well known.

A recent acquisition of a fabulous naval sea chest holding the precious belongings of a man who’s training and life at sea was in the late C19th and early C20th, revealed some private papers. These showed he achieved his qualification as Boiler Room Engineer and ‘Officer of the Watch’ but his Certification was oddly stamped, HMS Victory. Whether he trained in part on this special ship is unknown. He was shown to be aboard HMS Seagull & HMS Valiant.

This slight oddity, led to some research and It was then that I was drawn into the near 200 years of what has gone on in an effort to keep HMS Victory preserved for generations. This story is truly astonishing.

On hearing of the death of Admiral Nelson and victory at Trafalgar, King George III, later instrumental in saving the ship, is famously reported to have said sadly, “We have lost more than we have gained. We do not know whether we should mourn or rejoice. The country has gained the most splendid and decisive Victory that has ever graced the naval annals of England; but it has been dearly purchased”. And so it undoubtedly was.

But from then on, it is the unbelievable and uplifting efforts to save this ship that so demonstrates the English character; steady determination, stoic as we were, and throughout the world wars displaying quiet steeliness, strength and dignity even though sometimes, our well known ‘stiff upper lip’ easily wobbles when roused in collective patriotism.

Following the Battle of Trafalgar, HMS Victory returned to Portsmouth as a reserve ship and later as both a hospital ship and training ship. As the years went by, various issues began to surface that must be urgently addressed to maintain her. Sir Edward Seymour had visited the vessel in 1886 as flag captain to the Commander-in-Chief and recalled in his 1911 memoirs, “a more rotten ship than she had become probably never flew the pennant. I could literally run my walking stick through her sides in many places”.
She was in bad shape.

The Admiralty with only a small amount of money for her upkeep were wondering what to do with the liability? But when it was suggested that Victory be broken up in 1921, the salvageable bits of her carcass to be used elsewhere, the public were appalled. This great ship, on which occurred the tragic death of our greatest Naval Commander, galvanised the public who got behind her reclamation project with determination and generous donations.

The C20th which saw two very different wars, caused pauses in this endeavour and in fact damage to Victory when she was hit by the Luftwaffe in the Second World War. But despite this, the steadfastness of the English and their pride in our past, held strong the bonds of duty and commitment, established many decades before, as work continued over many subsequent generations.

And this is really the point. The poor state our country is in today, has fallen in only a quarter century, a mere whisper in time. Yet this country’s efforts which stood so firmly behind retaining HMS Victory, assuring her safe passage into the future, has gone on for almost two centuries. It demonstrates that, as a people, we were highly settled and steadfast. Aside from the tragedy of two World Wars, we continued in a more or less gentle way for so very long. We muddled along well together and were broadly likeminded where it mattered.

It is only very recently, that a small group who dislike their own country, have made a bigger impact, destroying from within. They would have been happy to pull Admiral Nelson from his high place in Trafalgar Square keeping an eye on things, if they actually had the guts to climb up and do so as they continue to carp about our past, they actually know so little of.

And while they make their miserable voices heard somewhat, others are getting on with the business at hand, ignoring such nonsense. They are still, all through the time since Victory arrived back in Portsmouth, working to maintain this magnificent ship.

The long and painstaking journey of repairs, rebuilds and maintenance carried out by the numerous people, groups, organisations, craftsmen, enablers, enthusiasts and fundraisers; not least the work to prepare her birth in Portsmouth to accommodate her in dry dock to start the process, had been going on over decades. She’s not been failed at any time.

The sheer scale of these efforts are truly amazing. She was dry docked in Portsmouth in 1920 but the damage done having her out of the water initially led to a metal frame being built to support her. Like a beached whale, the stresses are enormous. Much work was needed and so it was the unwavering collective agreement of our great people that kept the varied projects going.

The multitude of works carried out on HMS Victory are too numerous to give a full account of here. Over the long years she’s virtually been rebuilt. Much of the wood has been replaced, sails and rigging newly made and much else besides including a newly carved figurehead. And due to the diligence in the continuing works, time itself has proven useful and impacted decisions on how best to preserve and look after her.

The early works largely had to be redone, and the onerous little Blackwatch Beetle which bores holes into her precious body of wood, have stayed aboard down all these long years in the very bowels of Victory. Fumigation was carried out in the fifties, right through to the 1980’s but the beetle held tight within Victory’s timbers.

As time has passed new scientific and technological advances have made significant strides. 1995 brought the ‘Silbert Drill’. A diameter of only 2mm and capable of drilling 14” down could assess the timbers’ density and Blackwatch damage without causing harm. Further advances led to gaining the Blackwatch genome, allowing more accurate pest control of this damaging little critter.

HMS Victory still lies as she has done all these long years, at her birth; No2 dock at Portsmouth. Works finally completed in 2005 in time to celebrate 200 years since that never forgotten great Battle of Trafalgar, won by our most revered Sea Lord, Admiral Horatio Nelson. Incredibly, she remains a commissioned ship with crew, in our Royal Navy to this day.

Unlike the first modest centenary celebrations of 1905 at which time an entente cordiale between the English and French had established us as wary allies whom we didn’t like to offend, 100 years on held no such limitations. Perhaps we no longer cared about French sensibilities. Trafalgar 200 saw four months of celebrations including an international Fleet Review of more than 150 vessels from around the world, and we finally did justice to this much loved ship and her remarkable part played in our long history.

Amongst those celebrating this special occasion, must have been the Ghosts of all those generations of dedicated, inspiring people, long dead now but who made it all possible to save HMS Victory for future generations they will never know. I’m sure they proudly wished her God Speed as they looked down from above. A job well done by so many over two centuries.
God bless them.