One of the great sagas in human history is the era of the wooden navies. Of all the navies, one of the finest was the British navy.

From 1637 through the 1700's, the British built a few ships referred to as "first rates." This described a warship of three decks and 100 guns. The first to be built was 'The Sovereign of the Seas'. In a fleet of 150 warships, only four or five might be first rates. They were tremendously expensive to build, man, and maintain.

Despite continual opposition from Parliament to sanction them, some first rates were built. Once at sea they were considered indispensable. They were large enough to accommodate a fleet admiral and his staff, they served national prestige, and above all they could engage any warship in the world and keep up with the fleet. They were invariably the focal point of fleet actions.

HMS Victory, the ship of this post,  was the fifth Victory to be built and became the most famous British warship of all time. She was designed by Sir Thomas Slade and was considered to be his masterpiece.

Size specifications were:

Length on gundeck- 186 feet
Breadth- 51 feet 10 inches
To carry on lower deck- 30 guns firing 42 lb. shot
Middle deck- 28 guns of 24 lb. shot
Upper deck- 30 guns of 12 lb. shot
After deck- 10 guns of 6 lb. shot
Forecastle- 2 guns of 6 lb. shot

One of the main problems was obtaining suitable timber of British Oak. They scoured the countryside and retrieved 300,000 cu. ft., enough to build 400 single family homes. The original timber for Victory was laid aside in 1746 and had nearly 20 years to season before being used.

Victory was a three masted ship. The masts were built in three parts with the lower parts three feet in diameter of Fir for flexibility and came from the Baltic and North America.

The ship could spread thirty-two sails from the main masts and bowsprit. Sails were made from two foot wide strips of canvas, double stitched and strictly regulated.

The guns were smooth bore muzzle loading cannon. A 32 lb. shot had a muzzle velocity of 1600 feet per second, a maximum range of 2460 yards, and could penetrate 2 and one half feet of Oak.

When provisioned, the hold contained:

Water- 300 tons
Fuel(coal & wood)- 50 tons
Timber- 20 tons
Salt meat- 30 tons
Bisquits- 45 tons
Flour- 10 tons
Pease(a pea)- 15 tons
Butter- 2 tons
Beer- 50 tons
Powder- 35 tons
Shot(cannon balls)- 120 tons

Victory was in four major battles, the most famous of which was the Battle of Trafalgar under Admiral Lord Nelson. In this battle which began Oct. 19, 1805, Nelson broke the line of of the French fleet with Victory, firing broadsides from yards away into the French ship Buchnaure. Nelson received a fatal wound, a musket ball that entered his left shoulder and lodged in his spine. Due to his brilliant tactics, the English won a spectacular victory.

On Nov. 28, 1812, after 35 years of service, her active career ended - the active career of a truly great lady. She is the oldest ship in the world still in commission, now sitting in dry dock in Portsmouth, after having to date, 94 admirals at her helm.


(Most info. from Victory-Anatomy of the ship by John McKay)