As we made our way to the Mary Rose museum featured in Saturday’s blog post we passed HMS Victory and were surprised to see that she was sporting different colours than we had seen on our previous visit. Initially we wondered if she was in the middle of being repainted and what we were seeing was the undercoat. It was only when we came out of the Mary Rose museum that I noticed a sign that explained what we saw was her new paint scheme.

Hidden Layers

We have implemented a historically accurate re-painting of HMS Victory. For the first time, visitors can see the ship in her true colours – exactly as she appeared at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Several hundred paint samples were taken from various locations across the ship and in some places they uncovered 72 layers of paint!

Careful research has shown that Victory was painted externally in pale yellow and dark gray at the time of her famous victory. It would have been the Captain, Thomas Hardy, Nelson’s trusted right-hand man, who was responsible for the painting of the ship.*

In addition to the new paint scheme HMS Victory is undergoing an extensive conservation programme.

A Battle Against Time

Lord Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory is the world’s oldest commissioned warship and famous for playing a crucial role at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, a naval battle which contributed to the defeat of Napoleon in 1815.

The ship is currently undergoing an extensive multi-million pound conservation programme to defend her against the ravages of time. And so a new battle begins…

The conservation project encompasses £27 million of work to be completed over the next 15 years. All the external hull planking will be replaced and the historic fabric of the ship will be stabilised with a state-of-the-art support system.

Every mast will be repaired for the first time in 125 years. The upper sections of all three masts have already been removed. This includes 20 miles of associated rigging and 768 wooden blocks, some of which are 100 years old.*

*Information from signboards next to HMS Victory

The breakfast was every bit as good as we remembered from our first visit. The breakfast room was rather full due to the wedding guests from the day before. Thankfully the kids had worn themselves out and were quiet during breakfast.

We set off to Portsmouth to visit the Mary Rose Museum. The journey went smoothly but there was a bit of a saga when we tried to purchase the admission tickets. There were clearly only three of us but we were sold four tickets!! There was then a delay whilst someone (in fact two someones) came to sort out the problem and refund the money. Eventually we got past the ticket desk and had our bags searched as we entered the dockyard. We were surprised to see HMS Victory had changed colour and we wondered if she was in the middle of being repainted and what we were seeing was the undercoat. It was only when we came out of the Mary Rose museum that I noticed a sign that explained what we saw was her new paint scheme. During conservation work in 2013-14 up to 72 layers of paint had been removed to reveal that the paint scheme that she had been wearing for years was not the one she had worn at Trafalgar; the new one is.

The Mary Rose is now completely unwrapped and there are no drying pipes or screens obscuring the view giving a full view the ship. The exhibition blew me away. The ship is alternately illuminated to reveal the ship and then darkened to show living displays to various areas that bring ship to life. On arrival at the top level of the exhibition we found that the view of the ship was completely open without even the Perspex.

We had lunch in one of the dockyard cafes before moving on to Hinton Ampner which is a National Trust property that on our last visit had been only partially open due the roof being damaged in gales. We thought we might enjoy the gardens first but we soon changed our mind when it started to rain leading us to proceed into the house. The upstairs is very much a work in progress as repairs continue but it was good to see the upstairs rooms which had been closed on our previous visit. By the time we had finished our tour of the house the sun had come out and we toured the gardens in glorious sunshine with the colours enhanced by the rain. We took time to enjoy the gardens before returning to the hotel to chill out before dining in La Place. Whilst we were ordering our meal the French waiter told Mr C he was a lucky man to be dining with two beautiful ladies.

We stopped briefly in the Old Gaolhouse (A Weatherspoons pub, what were you thinking…) before returning to the hotel for the night.

On 7 May 1765 a magnificent new ship of the line was floated out of the Old Single Dock in Chatham’s Royal Dockyard. She was HMS Victory, a first-rate battleship and the largest and most up-to-date ship in King George III’s Royal Navy. In the years to come, over and unusually long service, she would gain renown leading fleets in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic War. She achieved lasting fame as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson in Britain’s greatest naval victory, the defeat of the French and Spanish at the Battle of Trafalgar.

It is almost impossible today to imagine the physical brutality of fighting at sea in sailing warships. These great wooden battleships, under acres of sail, confronted each other at point blank range, their crews intent on smashing and capturing the other ship. Their heavy guns blasted tons of iron, shattering hulls, splintering masts and yards, overturning gun carriages and filling the air with deafening noise and blinding smoke.

She may seem beautiful to our eyes, but Victory was built principally as a huge and complex machine of war. Every man in her 820 crew played a vital part in operating the ship and ensuring that ultimately she was in the right place and ready to fire her deadly broadside iron shot.*

The Admiral’s Quarters

The Upper Gun Deck

The Sick Berth

*From the Royal Navy HMS Victory guidebook

This quarter-scale replica of The Victory’s Original Figurehead was carved by Trevor Ellis.

When first launched the Victory had a most elaborate figurehead. It symbolised the many victories that Britain had won all over the world in 1759. In the centre is a bust of King George the Third.

On the starboard side (first photo) is a figure of Britannia. She is trampling on Discord and is being crowned by Peace. Below are two figures representing Asia and America.

On the port side (second photo) is a figure of Victory. She is trampling on rebellion. Above her Fame is sounding a trumpet to celebrate the victories. Below her are figures representing Europe and Africa.*

*From a signboard next to the figurehead.

Portsmouth Dockyard is very large and has so many attractions that we planned to visit on more than one day. On the first visit we visited Nelson’s ship, HMS Victory, first. It was interesting and a lot more compact inside than I had imagined. Even I had to duck my head at times. I found it strange to think we were on the vessel where Nelson spent the last moments of his life.

Next we visited the Marie Rose museum which is in the dry dock next to HMS Victory. This museum is very well done, the remains of the Marie Rose are on its starboard side and the archaeological finds and information are exhibited on its port side.  It was good to have seen Victory first because it allowed me to interpret clearly what I was seeing.  The Marie Rose is currently behind perspex because she is being dried out as part of the final stages of the work undertaken to preserve her.

We then went into the museum that complimented HMS Victory. Mr C wasn’t too fussed about going upstairs, but I decided I wanted a quick look which led me to find a viewing platform looking out over the dockyards. One of the museum curators explained about the decommissioning of HMS Illustrious within Portsmouth Dockyard. She then produced a book on warships and showed us some of the ones that were currently in dock. She also pointed out a Victorian structure that covered the place where Queen Victoria alighted her train before boarding a ship to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. We were also pointed in the right direction to find W L Wyllie’s Panorama of Trafalgar which we otherwise would have missed. The painting was displayed as a ’son et lumiere’ which was an excellent way of showing it off but it also meant we couldn’t linger to study it as long as we would have liked.

I chose to take a boat ride around the harbor. It is the best way to see the ships that are docked in the port as well as other more permanent features. The tour included a commentary naming the ships and pointing out various features of interest.

It was then time to head back for our evening meal, which on this occasion was rather disappointing.  I couldn’t quite put my finger on why… After the meal we made our way towards The Bishop on the Bridge for a drink before we returned to the hotel. As we approached the main thoroughfare where the pub was situated we heard a loud crash of glass. An angry man crossed in front of us shouting ‘England Forever’.  People from the two nearby pubs rushed out to see what was going on. The man moved by and we crossed the road on our way but the man suddenly turned around and walked into the middle of the road, ranting and raving in our general direction. Mr C was all for carrying on past him towards the pub but I had other ideas. I insisted we move back out of his anger zone. By this time there were people out with brooms sweeping  up the glass which he had smashed in the middle of a busy traffic island. There was glass everywhere so I am not sure what he had thrown. The people who had been near him in one of the pubs said he had been peaceful one minute and the next he went into a rage.

When the coast was clear we made our way to The Bishop on the Bridge for a well deserved drink.