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

On my first visit to the Mary Rose in in September 2014 she was behind perspex as she was being dried out as part of the final stages of work undertaken to preserve her. The view of her was to some extent obscured by the tubes that were in place to dry her out.

When I heard that the drying process was complete and that the Mary Rose was now completely unwrapped I knrw I had to visit again. It was lovely to see the full view of what remains of her without screens and drying pipes obscuring the view. 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.

You can learn more about the ship and the museum here.

Shonibare’s scale model of Nelson’s flagship, Victory, is the world’s largest ship in a bottle. The model is rigged with sails, naval ensigns and signal flags shown as they were on the day of the Battle of Trafalgar. The only significant departure from historical reality is the design of the 37 sails, which derives from the brightly coloured patterns of Dutch-was fabric.*

*Info from a sign board next to the ’ship in a bottle’.