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HMS Victory

You heard it first on this blog; Pirates have looted HMS Victory.

Yes, pirates have looted a British and International treasure, HMS Victory. Meaning? Read on for the grim truth…

HMS Victory 2005, ready for the 200 th Anniversary  

H M S Victory, then and now, both photographs taken by me, the second from the Brittany Ferry’s ‘Bretagne‘, as we sailed for France, late evening. The exterior appearance is indicative of the ship’s interior state and I have numerous photographs to prove my point.

HMSVictory 22.04.2018
HMS Victory 22.04.2018

How did this catastrophe happen? Read on…

First a little background. 

His Majesties Ship Victory, completed in 1758 is the only surviving example of a ‘First Rate’ man of war, ship of the line (of battle), three gun decks, over 100 heavy cannon, crew averaged around 850 men and boys.

Hers is the largest most powerful class of wooden warships ever built, at one time all leading nations had them, you may imagine her value is as if only one castle survives from Medieval Europe.

In 1921 Victory was still afloat much modified, being used as a Royal Navy school. She was accidentally rammed by a warship, almost lost.

The happy outcome was her dry docking and The Society of Nautical Research was formed.

Supported by among others King George V they campaigned success fully for her preservation.

Victory as dry docked in the Royal Navy Base Portsmouth, was opened to the general public.

Painted on location (impossible now), ‘Dockyard 400’, this painting is available.

Eventually the Royal Navy Museum and ‘Portsmouth Historic Dockyard‘ were formed around her with the addition of many other exhibits including the Tudor flagship wreck Mary Rose and the beautifully restored Victorian flagship HMS Warrior.

The Royal Navy continued to use Victory as a flagship, the oldest flagship in continual service in the world, the second oldest being the frigate USS Constitution. 

If the Royal Navy leaves Victory that distinctive honour passes to the USA.

Subsequently generations of SNR members have help raise funds for Victory to gradually return Victory to Trafalgar condition, in particular paying for her masts and rigging. This process was accelerated in 1992 with the appointment of a “Keeper and Curator” an ex R N man, naval engineer and distinguished naval author (17 published books to date), Mr. P. Goodwin, to head up research and oversee a team dedicated to Victory‘s  return to Trafalgar condition. It was at this point I was invited to join her as ‘Official Artist’, my paintings intended to increase interests and help raise public awareness and funds for the ship.

Mr. Goodwin and his team including time served dockyard shipwrights, of which I feel honoured to have been a part gradually did a meticulous and awesome job of returning Victory to a ship Nelson and his men would have not only recognised but felt at home in. Such was the attention to detail that as well as renewing rotten structures, living quarters were brought to life and much lost knowledge, rediscovered.

One would see books and navigational instruments, surgeons full tool of his macabre trade in cabins, even the carpenter’s cabins were researched and rebuilt to include wood shavings freshly changed every week.

A whole chapter can be written on Mr. Goodwin’s work with the Galley (set on new fireproof tiles from the original company still trading) and another on the magazine which he discovered was extensively fireproofed, had rebuilt and opened to the public. The magazine entrance is now partially blocked by a small shabby gift shop…

In Nelson and Hardy’s quarters the cabins were fitted with original period furniture, some even belonged to Nelson as did much that was laid out on the dinning table including the engraved crystal glasses.

There were many more such treasures and details including Mr. Goodwin discovered the place were Nelson died on the Orlop deck (with a little help from me) was wrong so he corrected that and had a suitable memorial tablet added made by the distinguished sculptor Phil Chatfield.

Fast forward to last week>

My 30 year old son had said he’d never seen Victory, would like to do so having heard me speak of Victory so often; that had to be done.

We visited the Victory as paying public last week.Gangway into HMS Victory, you may note the unseamanlike way the gun ports are secured? Typical of the state of the ship today

Can you imagine my disappointment turning to exasperation then anger to discover the ship, while still impressive, has been hidden behind ghastly galvanised  railings and far worse, stripped of her treasures?

What could I show or tell my son?    

I took numerous damming photographs of the present state, to compare with the ship as she was in 2005.

Even the painting of Emma Hamilton in Nelson’s cabin and the famous “Death of Nelson” painting on the orlop deck were missing. As for the other cabins… and the grand magazine is no longer accessible.

Is this the best we who are today’s Britons can do for this unique national and international treasure?

 Where is the rigging and ship’s crest? 
By the way the ship’s crest is also the last royal coat of arms of America; before it became the United States of America.
Yes the ship is older than the U S A .

I was appalled by her condition, are you?

All in literally all hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of artefacts are missing from HMS Victory and no one I asked was able to satisfactorily account for the missing objects.
This needs a very public Police investigation as is normal when national assets go missing possibly stolen by latter day pirates.

Back in 2005 a perceptive visitor could feel as if the officers and crew had just gone ashore and were due back at any minute.

HMS Victory now feels like an empty house, interesting but deserted by those who really appreciate her.

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Gordon Frickers © 28,04,2018