HMS Victory

A 100-gun First Rate ship designed by Sir Thomas Slade, the Surveyor of the Navy (1755-1771), according to the Establishment of 1745 as the only ship of its class and built in 1759-1765 at the Chatham Dockyard for the Royal Navy.
Dimensions: 151'3"5/8 × 51'10" × 21'6", tonnage: 2162 22/94.

Armament as designed:

Career:

1758 December 13

Ordered to be built.

1759 July 23

The keel was laid at Chatham Dockyard in the Old Single Dock from 1623.

1765 May 7

Launched by floating her out of the dock. It was found that she had a permanent list to starboard and 38 tons extra ballast on the port side was required to right her. The cost for building was £ 63.176.

1769

Masted and rigged for conducting seatrials.

1778 March 12

Commissioned.

Armament:

Lower deck:	30 × 32	pound guns
Middel deck:	28 × 24	pound guns
Upper deck:	30 × 12	pound guns
Quarter deck:	10 × 6	pound guns
Forecastle:	2 × 6	pound guns

1778 July 23

Took part in the Battle at Ushant under Admiral Keppel against the French fleet.

1779 April

Maintenance and re-fitting after a year at sea and.

Armament:

Lower deck:	30 × 42	pound guns
Middel deck:	28 × 24	pound guns
Upper deck:	30 ×x 12	pound guns
Quarter deck:	10 × 6	pound guns
Forecastle:	2 ×x 6	pound guns

1780 March

Maintenance and re-fitting after a year at sea.

Armament:

Lower deck:	30 × 42	pound guns
Middel deck:	28 × 24	pound guns
Upper deck:	30 × 12	pound guns
Quarter deck:	10 × 6	pound guns
Poop deck:	6 × 18	pound carronades
Forecastle:	2 × 6	pound guns
	2 × 24	pound carronades

1782 November - March

Paid off at Portsmouth and subject to a Middling Repair.

Armament:

Lower deck:	30 × 42	pound guns
Middel deck:	28 × 24	pound guns
Upper deck:	30 × 12	pound guns
Quarter deck:	10 × 12	pound guns
Poop deck:	6 × 18	pound carronades
Forecastle:	2 × 12	pound guns
	2 × 24	pound carronades

1783 March - 1787 November

Put in reserv at Portsmouth.

1787 December -- 1788 April

Large repair.

1789 April -- 1789

Put in reserv at Portsmouth.

1789 -- 1791 August

Channel service.

1797 February 14

Participated in the Battle of St Vincent under Admiral John Jervis against the Spanish fleet.

1797 October

Paid off at Chatham and was struck from the Navy List after having been found defective.

1797 December 8 -- 1799 January

Fitted as Hospital Ship at Chatham Dockyard and served in the Medway.

1800 February -- 1803 April

Large reconstruction at Chatham, involving among many things closing in of the stern galleries. The cost for the Large Repair was £ 70.993.

1803

Refitted.

Armament:

Lower deck:	30 x 32	pound guns
Middel deck:	28 x 24	pound guns
Upper deck:	30 x 12	pound guns
Quarter deck:	12 x 12	pound guns
Forecastle:	2 x 24	pound carronades

1803 May -- 1805 April

Mediterrean service under Admiral Horatio Nelson.

1805 August

General maintenance after 18 months at sea and re-armament:

Lower deck:	30 x 32	pound guns
Middel deck:	28 x 24	pound guns
Upper deck:	30 x 12	pound guns
Quarter deck:	12 x 12	pound guns
Quarter deck:	6 x 18	pound carronades
Forecastle:	2 x 12	pound guns
	2 x 68	pound carronades

1805 October 21

Participated in the Battle of Trafalgar under Admiral Horatio Nelson against the joint French and Spanish fleets.

Four days before the battle the muster book listed 441 English, 64 Scots, 63 Irish, 18 Welsh, 3 Shetlanders, 2 Channel Islanders, and 1 Manxman.
The 71 foreigners comprised 22 Americans, 7 Dutch, 6 Swedes, 4 Italians, 4 Maltese, 3 Frenchmen volunteers, 3 Norwegians, 3 Germans, 2 Swiss, 2 Portuguese, 2 Danes, 2 Indians, 1 Russian, 1 from Africa and 9 from the West Indian islands.

1806 January 15

Paid off at Chatham.

1806 March -- May

Repairs and recoppering at Chatham. Refitted.

Armament:

Lower deck:	30 x 32	pound guns
Middel deck:	28 x 24	pound guns
Upper deck:	30 x 12	pound guns
Quarter deck:	4 x 12	pound guns
Quarter deck:	8 x 32	pound carronades
Forecastle:	2 x 32	pound carronades

1806 May -- 1808 March

Put in ordinary in the Medway.

1807 November 11

Re-rated as a 2nd Rate ship.

1807 November

Refitted.

Armament:

Lower deck:	30 x 32	pound guns
Middel deck:	28 x 18	pound guns
Upper deck:	30 x 12	pound guns
Quarter deck:	8 x 32	pound carronades
Forecastle:	2 x 32	pound carronades
Forecastle:	2 x 12	pound guns

1808 April - November

Baltic service under Rear-Admiral Sir James Saumarez.

1809 February - December

Baltic service under Rear-Admiral Sir James Saumarez.

1810 March - December

Baltic service under Rear-Admiral Sir James Saumarez.

1811 May - December

Baltic service under Rear-Admiral Sir James Saumarez.

1812 April - November

Baltic service under Rear-Admiral Sir James Saumarez.

1812 November 28

Paid off at Portsmouth.

1813 -- 1823

Put in ordinary.

1814 March -- 1816 January 15

Large reconstruction.

1817 February

Re-rated as a 1st Rate ship.

1823 June -- 1824 January

Re-fitted as a 21-gun Guard ship at Portsmouth.

1863

Harbour service.

1869

Paid off as Flagship in Portsmouth.

1869 -- 1891 August

Served as tender to the screw First Rate Duke of Wellington.

1903 October 23

Was rammed by the ex. battleship Neptune and was docked for repairs.

1922 January 12

Placed in the No. 2 Dock at the Portsmouth Dockyard.

1922 March 20

Beginning of restoration to Trafalgar condition under the auspicies of the Society for Nautical Research.

References:

External links:

• Flagship. The Historic Dockyard, Portsmouth.
• HMS Victory. Flagship of Admiral Sir John Jervis at St. Vincent. By Peter Milford, St. Vincent College, Gosport, Great Britain.

Select Bibliography:

• The death of Nelson at Trafalgar. From the Log of HMS Victory, 1805.
• Victory muster roll for Trafalgar.
  Adm 36/15900. Public Record Office.
• H.M.S. Victory. A short history and guide.
  Portsmouth, 1965.
• The Victory museum, H.M. Dockyard, Portsmouth.
  The Society for Nautical Research, Portsmouth, 1965.
• "D.B.S.": Victory.
  The Mariner's Mirror Vol. 17 (1931), p 90.
• Anderson, R.C.: The Victory.
  The Mariner's Mirror Vol. 8, London, 1922. pp 149-150.
• Ballard, G.A.: Spar Dimension of the Victory as Compared with Those of Mid-Victorian Armoured Battleships.
  The Mariner's Mirror Vol. 15 (1929), pp 69-70.
• Bugler, A.: HMS Victory, building, restoration & repair.
  HMSO, London, 1966. 2 vols.
• Callender, Geoffrey: H.M.S. Victory and the Victory Museum.
  The Mariner's Mirror Vol. 12 (1924), pp 5-8, 205-206, 1 pl.
• Chancellor, John R.: Victory's Sprit Topsail Yard and Dolphin Striker.
  The Mariner's Mirror Vol. 67 (1981), pp 62-64.
• Dunphy, W.P.: H.M.S. Victory's Dolphin Striker.
  The Mariner's Mirror Vol. 64 (1978), p 44.
• Fraser, Edward: H.M.S. Victory.
  The Mariner's Mirror Vol. 8 (1922), pp 194-198, 232-236.
• Harland, John H.: Victory's Spritsail Topsail Yard and Dolphin Striker.
  The Mariner's Mirror Vol. 63 (1977), p 8.
• Laughton, L.G. Carr: H.M.S. Victory. Report of the Victory Technical Committee of a Search Among the Admiralty Records.
  The Mariner's Mirror Vol. 10 (1924), pp 173-211.
• Lavis, B.: A Famous Ship Model. Some Notes on the Original Model from which H.M.S. Victory was Built in 1765.
  Ships and Shipmodels Vol. 1 (1931-32), pp 336-339.
• Longridge, Nepean C.: The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships.
  Model and Allied Publications, Hemel Hempstead, 1974/1955.
• McKay, John: The 100-gun Ship Victory.
  Conway Maritime Press, London, 1987. 8vo, 119 pp, ill.
• McNarry, Donald: HMS Victory.
  Model Shipwright Vol. 19 (1991), pp 76:13-16, ill.
• Morris. R.O.: H.M.S. Victory and the Society for Nautical Research.
  The Mariner's Mirror Vol. 76 (1990), pp 201-202.
• Naish. G.P.B.: Nelson and H.M.S. Victory. A pictorial story of his life and ships.
  Pitkin Pictorials, London, 1965.
• Roskruge, F.J.: The Victory after Trafalgar.
  The Mariner's Mirror Vol. 7 (1921), pp 267-271, ill.
• Spalding, H.S.: HMS Victory 1805.
  Model Shipwright Vol. 1 (1972), pp 204-207, ill.

Updated 1999-07-27 by Lars Bruzelius.

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Copyright © 1995 Lars Bruzelius.