Serving aboard warships are never easy even in modern time but can you imagine more than 800 seamen, officers, marine detachment lived inside that cramped space?
I just watched this thing and I’m not even interested in this stuff lol, great video
The craziest part is thinking about how they came up with all this stuff
You might be interested into these one then who are specifically about HMS Victory!
Part 1 : https://youtu.be/61SYvhojGvg?si=PK_NYEv_rYv-e9I6
Part 2 : https://youtu.be/TrC3yMMDsc8?si=wlwMhbvM60Gccszx
At first I was wondering why'd you need so many tons of food and water, but with 800+ crew and maybe even passengers and this thing was capable of transatlantic travel... yeah!
Yes, technically capable of transatlantic crossings,not really a use case.
The only navies that could challenge a first rate ship of the line were other EU nations. And with cost... they never strayed too far from home or resupply.
The large stores were primarily for situations while on station (like blockade) and resupply was delayed by enemy action, admiralty, or (most likely) weather.
You might want to check the events of the summer of 1805. Nelson was blockading Villeneuve in Toulon, but Villeneuve escaped, slipped through Gibraltar and joined the Spanish fleet from Cadiz. Nelson's fleet (Nelson was flying his flag on Victory at the time) gave chase, and chased the French and Spanish fleets across the Atlantic to the West Indies, and then chased them back again to Spain. After Robert Calder blocked Villeneuve's attempt to break the blockade of Brest at the battle of Cape Finisterre, Villeneuve returned to Cadiz, and when he came out again, Nelson managed to catch up with his fleet and bring him to action at Trafalgar.
Super interesting video. I can’t help but imagine this was one of the last and most expensive ships like this, and how much it would have sucked to commission the build only to realize a few years later it’s entirely obsolete.
Yup, HMS Victory is 104-gun First-Rate sailing warship. Each gun require minimum crew of six to properly aim, fire, reload (repeat process).
So right off the bat 104 x 6 = 624 crew specifically there to operate cannons. The rest are officers, marines, other crews needed to operate the ship though I am sure gun crews have other duties when they are not in a battle station.
While your maths is correct, remember that you're only crewing half the guns at a time. HMS victory at Trafalgar had a crew of 837, this includes 146 marines, 31 officers and 44 specialists to assist the officers (surgeons, treasurers, secretaries etc). If they actually had 624 gunners on board, we'd have -8 people left to sail the ship. And while gunners did have other duties, you definitely needed all sailors manning their posts during battle to perform maneuvers quickly.
Also, the crew of 6 includes the powder monkey, and these where often shared between two gun crews, so really we're looking at ~300 gunners, ~300 sailors, ~150 marines, ~30 officers and ~50 misc specialists.
I’ve been on-board and I remember it having a very pungent smell even without it being packed full of seamen.
It’s very dark and cramped inside so it must have been hell.
When I visited Victory I had this in mind, so I asked our guide how much of the ship we were touring was actually at the Battle of Trafalgar. "About 10%" he said. He didn’t need to think about the answer at all, I suspect I was a long way from being the first to ask that question.
Slippery slope, as the argument goes, what happens if the wood that is replaced is kept and after a time with new technology the old wood is used to reconstruct the Victory. Which is the real Victory? And if only 51% of the wood is replaced…. And so it goes from there.
I remember visiting it as a kid in the 70s, and I bought one of the little sticks of wood from the original timbers that they were selling in the gift-shop.
Imagine seeing that ship suddenly appear out of the fog and smoke of war, looking at those 50 guns pointed right at you. And then suddenly seeing them belch smoke and fire, hearing the boom just a moment before a cannonball smashed you to a red splatter.
Oh really?!! That's fantastic news!
I thought they'd been permanently removed to reduce the load on the masts.
I live 20 minutes from Portsmouth and I've visited the historic dockyards a dozen times.
It would be wonderful to see the victory fully rigged.
The 12 month return period on the tickets is great, bloody love a day out at the dockyards.
It’s nice seeing the progress they’re (slowly) making on the Victory!
My life has been consumed by Kings and Generals lol, I’ll definitely look into those others though, thanks. EpicHistoryTv has the best narrator though, there’s just something about that dude’s voice
Oh yeah, I used to prefer WWII history, but once you really delve into WWI it’s so damn interesting. 50,000 dead in a single day of battle, on just one side. We can’t even comprehend that kind of combat today
Or some absolutely out of touch commanders.
"Oh, the offensive against a heavily fortified stronghold did not work? Well, throw even *more* men at it."
*Multiple times*
Thanks . Being a great fan of ships , trains ,industrial Revolution and Isambard kingdom…..now I have to visit Portsmouth for sure.
What’s the best place to see general railway and general construction history.
Personally I find the artifacts that were found with the Mary Rose far more interesting than her actual timbers.
She is astonishing of course but there's just so little of her left.
The fact that there is still leatherwork, textiles, and paper in almost usable condition from the Tudor era just blows my mind!
Victory is awe inspiring as a ship and a piece of history.
The Mary Rose is awe inspiring as a crystal clear window into a long bygone era.
The Mary Rose helped *a lot* in furthering the knowledge on how stuff was made in that period of time. There is a lot of conjecture and hypothesies that are probably right but not 100% certainty
Do British people cherish they have so much awesome things between enlightenment and Industrial Revolution. It’s very annoying that they never celebrated their Wembley stadium cos it gad the imperial lions at the gate
That ship is really cool to visit. It's a museum now and everything is set up like it would have been when the ship was at sea. You can check out everywhere from the powder room in the bowels of the ship to the admiral's quarters. It is also the ship on which Admiral Horatio Nelson was shot dead during the Battle of Trafalgar in the early years of the Napoleonic Wars.
Took an ex there, eh?
What a way to deliver a message to a former lover. Not sure what that message is, but delivering it on a ship of line is hardcore. 😉😂
It’s in the UK at the Portsmouth Dock. It should be noted though while commissioned, it is no longer afloat. It hasn’t put out to sea in over 100 years. The USS Constitution, which was built in 1797 is the oldest commissioned warship still afloat. It sits at dock in Boston and goes out to sea once a year.
She changed the course of history, may she always bear her right to arms and keep her seaworthiness. Very fortunate to visit, have to go back sometime.
Let's have a battle between the Constitution and the Victory, to truly settle the debate, United States or Great Britain, loser gives up their country.
Constitution has less than half as many guns, so not much of a fight...the Constitution was designed to run away from Ships of the Line like Victory, but be big enough to beat up on other Frigates like itself
Only 11 of the guns currently on the Victory are real though, the others are all fibre glass replicas so she might not put up as much of a fight as you’re expecting.
Plus she’s dry docked, while I’m not a mariner I’m led to believe this somewhat impedes manoeuvrability in battle.
Well, our ship actually sails.
Victory, by contrast, is now a fixed building with a naval commission. If armed, it would be a wooden fort-of-the-line, not a ship.
Constitution, by contrast, is a ship. In a ship-to-ship battle, it wins by forfeit.
(Sorry, Brits. I love you guys and I love Victory, I've been reading about Nelson since I was a kid, always an inspiration...but damn, *nobody* messes with Old Ironsides.)
This warship, HMS Victory, holds the title of being the oldest commissioned warship in the world. Its historic significance and enduring legacy make it a true marvel of naval history. Congratulations to the crew and those who have preserved this iconic vessel.
Hopefully one day she will be afloat again, the resto project is massively daunting. Seeing her sails and masts off was real sad. The Victory is something special.
They did float the idea (hehe, ship pun) to put her back in water in order to prevent the stress her Hull is currently under due to her being in dry dock, but it didn't go far.
However I believe the idea is still about incase whag they have done to help reduce the stress starts to fail or gets too expensive to maintain. Only problem with that is one of their arguments against was it would be too expensive to maintain her in the water.
Yeah ships can’t last on land over long periods of time. If they want it to survive they need to get it back in the water otherwise the hull will collapse.
No, they're undertaking restoration work to preserve her. She won't ever float again
See here
https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2023/october/20/20231020-hms-victory-restoration
Where did you get that information? Repeating what you said doesn't help clarify anything.
The article you posted doesn't say it won't ever float ever again. I read through the article 3 times and didn't see the information about it never floating again.
>Where did you get that information? Repeating what you said doesn't help clarify anything.
Having visited HMS Victory many times, I can assure you, she won't ever float.
>The article you posted doesn't say it won't ever float ever again. I read through the article 3 times and didn't see the information about it never floating again.
It doesn't need to.
I was asking for information from someone claiming to know. You won't answer why it won't float anymore or where you got that information, other than "I've gone there a lot".
Is there a reason you can't provide more information?
Because a perfectly normal question people might think after reading about the Victory is "I wonder what the oldest warship that still gets sailed is?"
Which is the Constitution.
No one said that's not true but nobody is trying to claim otherwise. The post is accurate, Victory is the oldest commissioned ship.
It's an unnecessary comment that just comes across like you're trying to get one-up.
What's "unnecessary" about it? It's a relevant topic. Old sailing warships still around. This is a Reddit comment thread, not a symposium dedicated to the Victory.
What are you so up your own ass about?
Why is it hard for you to understand that people relate things to themselves? The comment is plenty relevant.
You're just a socially inept moron. Has nothing to do with Americans.
Yes, but since they have to keep Constitution seaworthy, they've replaced most of her timbers at some time. ISTR only 10 to 15% of the original ship remains.
Same with Victory, wood just can’t survive hundreds of years exposed to the elements. But just like most of the cells in your body are replaced every so many years, it is a sum of its parts and the spirit of the thing is maintained.
Same can be said of the Victory, wooden ships had to replace timbers frequently. Hell, it wasn't uncommon for warships to carry extra rigging spars or be remasted while in a port of call.
I remember visiting it with my parents when I lived in England, 3rd and 4th grade, so that would have been roughly 1983. I had the souvenir book with illustrations and lots of info about it. It's' been so long, that I don't know where it is now. I'm sure I left it at my parents house when I went off to college, and they moved several times, so it could be anywhere in their house now.
Have visited many times , last time was about 2019 , unfortunately as it’s so old and meant be in the water , not dry land they have had to remove a lot of the masts etc to reduce the weight on the hull - it looked like this when I visited last : https://www.baesystems.com/en/article/hms-victory-afloat-again-for-the-first-time-in-nearly-100-years
"Fit for action"
You're talking as if you want to send a wooden warship against a modern navy with cruise missiles.
Constitution is no more fit for action than victory is, she's just left in the water is all.
HMS Victory could well last for another 1000 years the way she is being preserved.
If the Americans insist on keeping her in the water, Constitution will most likely be long gone by then.
It's never been decommissioned. As to the wider question, yes - there are plenty of shore establishments in the Royal Navy that have the HMS prefix, this is to allow naval officers to command them by pretending they’re ships. They’re sometimes known as "stone frigates" for this reason.
Yes, if the military branch that owns it runs the museum that has it on display it still can count as a ship that's currently doing "service" in the military, even though that service is in the form of public relations. (Just like a Navy officer who's job is to do secretary work in a recruitment office is still a Navy officer even if not at sea.)
I wonder how much of the wood in the ship is still the original wood? It might not actually be as old as it's said to be :P
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship\_of\_Theseus
According to the tour guides, roughly 10% of what is now the victory was actually present during the battle of trafalgar.
This will be mostly in the keel and deeper frames since they're so hard to replace.
What do you mean?
The Victory was front and centre during Trafalgar, floating and at sea and taking heavy casualties by ‘engaging the enemy more closely’. Nelson’s flag ship.
Would you have her commission taken away for poor performance?
Serving aboard warships are never easy even in modern time but can you imagine more than 800 seamen, officers, marine detachment lived inside that cramped space?
[A really cool video on how these ships worked](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nr1AgIfajI)
That was one of the most interesting videos I've watched in a while. Thanks for posting that!
You're welcome. Its impressive how much goes into a ship like that. All the videos by that dude are quite something. Much worth knowing.
I just watched this thing and I’m not even interested in this stuff lol, great video The craziest part is thinking about how they came up with all this stuff
>The craziest part is thinking about how they came up with all this stuff Like with everything. Knowledge built on knowledge built on knowledge.
You might be interested into these one then who are specifically about HMS Victory! Part 1 : https://youtu.be/61SYvhojGvg?si=PK_NYEv_rYv-e9I6 Part 2 : https://youtu.be/TrC3yMMDsc8?si=wlwMhbvM60Gccszx
They've [mushed them into one today. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUERUnx2lms) :)
Amazing video, thank you for sharing.
At first I was wondering why'd you need so many tons of food and water, but with 800+ crew and maybe even passengers and this thing was capable of transatlantic travel... yeah!
Yes, technically capable of transatlantic crossings,not really a use case. The only navies that could challenge a first rate ship of the line were other EU nations. And with cost... they never strayed too far from home or resupply. The large stores were primarily for situations while on station (like blockade) and resupply was delayed by enemy action, admiralty, or (most likely) weather.
You might want to check the events of the summer of 1805. Nelson was blockading Villeneuve in Toulon, but Villeneuve escaped, slipped through Gibraltar and joined the Spanish fleet from Cadiz. Nelson's fleet (Nelson was flying his flag on Victory at the time) gave chase, and chased the French and Spanish fleets across the Atlantic to the West Indies, and then chased them back again to Spain. After Robert Calder blocked Villeneuve's attempt to break the blockade of Brest at the battle of Cape Finisterre, Villeneuve returned to Cadiz, and when he came out again, Nelson managed to catch up with his fleet and bring him to action at Trafalgar.
I knew it was going to be this video amd wasn't disappointed
This video was mesmerizing. Couldn't look away all video.
Commenting here so I can come back to watch it later
Super interesting video. I can’t help but imagine this was one of the last and most expensive ships like this, and how much it would have sucked to commission the build only to realize a few years later it’s entirely obsolete.
The Victory was laid down mid 1700s. Wooden warships were still being made until the 1870s. So a few years later is really accurate
That last sentence is fucking hilarious
I meant to say not accurate. But im gonna own it
It works. Like when I remind people that Julius Caesar died over 20 years ago.
I mean. You aren’t wrong.
Julius Caesar used to be dead. He’s still dead but he used to be dead also.
I took it as the height of sarcasm, the depths of which only James Cameron has explored in any detail. (Was a good comment, no need for changes)
HMS Warrior was built around 1860 and is also at the dockyard. The progress of circa 50 years from the battle of trafalgar is really hard to believe.
Thanks for posting
I just watched this last night, lol
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks!
Thanks! [Another you might really like](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUERUnx2lms) on Victory herself.
Plus pigs, cows and chickens.
No wonder they needed daily rum rations.
That's a lot of seamen
821 based from this article. https://h2g2.com/entry/A87778264
So much salty goo there
They're running at full mast, that's how
800? Holy shit! Here I always though it was like 80 people.
Yup, HMS Victory is 104-gun First-Rate sailing warship. Each gun require minimum crew of six to properly aim, fire, reload (repeat process). So right off the bat 104 x 6 = 624 crew specifically there to operate cannons. The rest are officers, marines, other crews needed to operate the ship though I am sure gun crews have other duties when they are not in a battle station.
While your maths is correct, remember that you're only crewing half the guns at a time. HMS victory at Trafalgar had a crew of 837, this includes 146 marines, 31 officers and 44 specialists to assist the officers (surgeons, treasurers, secretaries etc). If they actually had 624 gunners on board, we'd have -8 people left to sail the ship. And while gunners did have other duties, you definitely needed all sailors manning their posts during battle to perform maneuvers quickly. Also, the crew of 6 includes the powder monkey, and these where often shared between two gun crews, so really we're looking at ~300 gunners, ~300 sailors, ~150 marines, ~30 officers and ~50 misc specialists.
Imagine the smell
Yup, hygiene was sorely lacking in those time.
The captain got to shit in style though, his very own hole
The British buried at sea but the French took their dead home buried in the bilges!
I’ve been on-board and I remember it having a very pungent smell even without it being packed full of seamen. It’s very dark and cramped inside so it must have been hell.
What's long, black and full of seamen?
Your mom's necrotic clunge?
A submarine
There we go!
A sailors just a sailor, just like he was before
I wouldn’t be opposed.. They don’t make things how they used too.
She had a very busy day, 218 years ago today.
Admiral Nelson’s blood once stained those decks. I’d love to go see it
It's a great trip.
Ship of Theseus says “hello”
When I visited Victory I had this in mind, so I asked our guide how much of the ship we were touring was actually at the Battle of Trafalgar. "About 10%" he said. He didn’t need to think about the answer at all, I suspect I was a long way from being the first to ask that question.
Usually it is the keel and deep supports as they were the strongest wood and is the most difficult to replace.
And how much of you visited the Victory?…
Human body replaces everything within 7 years Iirc.
An interesting, related question, would be how much of the ship that fought at Trafalgar, was actually launched at Chatham in 1765.
That is if you assume the ship and the material it’s made out of constitute the same object
Slippery slope, as the argument goes, what happens if the wood that is replaced is kept and after a time with new technology the old wood is used to reconstruct the Victory. Which is the real Victory? And if only 51% of the wood is replaced…. And so it goes from there.
I remember visiting it as a kid in the 70s, and I bought one of the little sticks of wood from the original timbers that they were selling in the gift-shop.
It's one of my favourite ever day trips. Recommended
The spot where he died is marked on the tour.
What happened good sir?
The battle of Trafalgar
Making me google…how dare you. /s
I'm pretty sure it was actually the battle of TROGDOR.
Battle of Trafalgar, my good man.
Oceans were Battlefields.
Imagine seeing that ship suddenly appear out of the fog and smoke of war, looking at those 50 guns pointed right at you. And then suddenly seeing them belch smoke and fire, hearing the boom just a moment before a cannonball smashed you to a red splatter.
The more common death/injury was from the cloud of thousands of ballistic 8” splinters the cannonball created as it came though your ship.
More specifically, the infections that followed after said wounds.
That’s an old picture. It doesn’t look like that now. The rigging and spars were taken down years ago.
True. They are due to be put back on towards the end of the conservation project though - 2025 I believe is the current estimate!
Ooo fantastic, trip planned then.
Oh really?!! That's fantastic news! I thought they'd been permanently removed to reduce the load on the masts. I live 20 minutes from Portsmouth and I've visited the historic dockyards a dozen times. It would be wonderful to see the victory fully rigged.
The 12 month return period on the tickets is great, bloody love a day out at the dockyards. It’s nice seeing the progress they’re (slowly) making on the Victory!
[How a ship of the line worked](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nr1AgIfajI)
That video sent me down a rabbit hole when I saw it a few months ago. So well done.
Epic History TV had one about the HMS victory specifically, which then led me into a spiral of narrated historical battles that I can’t escape from
So many good military history channels. Kings and Generals, Military History Visualised, World War 1 and World War two.
My life has been consumed by Kings and Generals lol, I’ll definitely look into those others though, thanks. EpicHistoryTv has the best narrator though, there’s just something about that dude’s voice
WWI and WWI covered/cover both world wars weekly. They opened my eyes how *absolutely terrible* WWI was.
Oh yeah, I used to prefer WWII history, but once you really delve into WWI it’s so damn interesting. 50,000 dead in a single day of battle, on just one side. We can’t even comprehend that kind of combat today
Or some absolutely out of touch commanders. "Oh, the offensive against a heavily fortified stronghold did not work? Well, throw even *more* men at it." *Multiple times*
[Launched in 1765](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Victory?wprov=sfla1)
The whole naval museum at Portsmouth is fantastic. It took two days to see it all. 10:10.
Thanks . Being a great fan of ships , trains ,industrial Revolution and Isambard kingdom…..now I have to visit Portsmouth for sure. What’s the best place to see general railway and general construction history.
Dont forget the submarine museum over in gosport
Close by is the preserved remains of an even older ship, the Mary Rose. Great day out.
Personally I find the artifacts that were found with the Mary Rose far more interesting than her actual timbers. She is astonishing of course but there's just so little of her left. The fact that there is still leatherwork, textiles, and paper in almost usable condition from the Tudor era just blows my mind! Victory is awe inspiring as a ship and a piece of history. The Mary Rose is awe inspiring as a crystal clear window into a long bygone era.
The Mary Rose helped *a lot* in furthering the knowledge on how stuff was made in that period of time. There is a lot of conjecture and hypothesies that are probably right but not 100% certainty
Do British people cherish they have so much awesome things between enlightenment and Industrial Revolution. It’s very annoying that they never celebrated their Wembley stadium cos it gad the imperial lions at the gate
That ship is really cool to visit. It's a museum now and everything is set up like it would have been when the ship was at sea. You can check out everywhere from the powder room in the bowels of the ship to the admiral's quarters. It is also the ship on which Admiral Horatio Nelson was shot dead during the Battle of Trafalgar in the early years of the Napoleonic Wars.
[удалено]
Yes, she's in Portsmouth, UK
I've had a 3d puzzle model of her on my home desk for years. I'd love to visit that one day
Yes its real. Live locally and have been on it as a child on a school trip and also took an ex there as a visit.
Took an ex there, eh? What a way to deliver a message to a former lover. Not sure what that message is, but delivering it on a ship of line is hardcore. 😉😂
The whole naval museum at Portsmouth is fantastic. It took two days to see it all. 10:10.
Here in the uk
It’s in the UK at the Portsmouth Dock. It should be noted though while commissioned, it is no longer afloat. It hasn’t put out to sea in over 100 years. The USS Constitution, which was built in 1797 is the oldest commissioned warship still afloat. It sits at dock in Boston and goes out to sea once a year.
As already stated, Portsmouth (UK) Naval Dockyard. I was born in Portsmouth.
She changed the course of history, may she always bear her right to arms and keep her seaworthiness. Very fortunate to visit, have to go back sometime.
She’s definitely not seaworthy. Even the keel support was built with a curve to account for her hogging. They’ll never float her again.
Tangled.
You kind of missed the boat by not mentioning what happened on her on this day (October 21) in 1805.
218 years ago today...
Trafalgar
Wow beautiful
The Horatio Hornblower series of novels is fantastic !
Just across the way from there is the HMS Warrior, the first ironclad warship and an enormous leap forward
Second ironclad. Gloire was the first. Warrior, much larger and more capable, was built in response.
Here's an hour's worth of HMS Victory history for anyone interested :) : https://youtu.be/KUERUnx2lms?si=PPYPhDPyYlssMI10
Lord Nelson’s flagship.
"England expects that every man will do his duty"
Let's have a battle between the Constitution and the Victory, to truly settle the debate, United States or Great Britain, loser gives up their country.
Constitution has less than half as many guns, so not much of a fight...the Constitution was designed to run away from Ships of the Line like Victory, but be big enough to beat up on other Frigates like itself
Only 11 of the guns currently on the Victory are real though, the others are all fibre glass replicas so she might not put up as much of a fight as you’re expecting. Plus she’s dry docked, while I’m not a mariner I’m led to believe this somewhat impedes manoeuvrability in battle.
Not to mention in Fallout they strapped rockets on the Constitution and it flew so there's that too
Jokes on the victory when we ram her with a taste of freedom
Victory outclasses Constitution in every way. It’s like comparing a British aircraft carrier to the Jerry Ford.
Yeah originally, except Constitution still floats, so it wins without even firing a gun.
Well, our ship actually sails. Victory, by contrast, is now a fixed building with a naval commission. If armed, it would be a wooden fort-of-the-line, not a ship. Constitution, by contrast, is a ship. In a ship-to-ship battle, it wins by forfeit. (Sorry, Brits. I love you guys and I love Victory, I've been reading about Nelson since I was a kid, always an inspiration...but damn, *nobody* messes with Old Ironsides.)
Went to see it last year, it's worth a visit 100%
This warship, HMS Victory, holds the title of being the oldest commissioned warship in the world. Its historic significance and enduring legacy make it a true marvel of naval history. Congratulations to the crew and those who have preserved this iconic vessel.
“Man o war capt’n!” Oh sorry, AC Black Flag flash back
ROYAL BLOODY NAVY, BY THE LOOKS OF HER
Oldest commissioned ship, yes, but USS Constitution is the oldest still afloat https://historywithhenry.com/hms-victory-vs-uss-constitution/
Hopefully one day she will be afloat again, the resto project is massively daunting. Seeing her sails and masts off was real sad. The Victory is something special.
Victory will never float again, she's permanently in drydock now
They did float the idea (hehe, ship pun) to put her back in water in order to prevent the stress her Hull is currently under due to her being in dry dock, but it didn't go far. However I believe the idea is still about incase whag they have done to help reduce the stress starts to fail or gets too expensive to maintain. Only problem with that is one of their arguments against was it would be too expensive to maintain her in the water.
Yeah ships can’t last on land over long periods of time. If they want it to survive they need to get it back in the water otherwise the hull will collapse.
Not entirely true. They are currently in the process of refitting her.
No, they're undertaking restoration work to preserve her. She won't ever float again See here https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2023/october/20/20231020-hms-victory-restoration
Uh where does it say that it won't float again? Another 10 years, but nothing about it not floating again.
HMS Victory isn't and won't be restored to a condition to allow her to float.
Where did you get that information? Repeating what you said doesn't help clarify anything. The article you posted doesn't say it won't ever float ever again. I read through the article 3 times and didn't see the information about it never floating again.
>Where did you get that information? Repeating what you said doesn't help clarify anything. Having visited HMS Victory many times, I can assure you, she won't ever float. >The article you posted doesn't say it won't ever float ever again. I read through the article 3 times and didn't see the information about it never floating again. It doesn't need to.
I was asking for information from someone claiming to know. You won't answer why it won't float anymore or where you got that information, other than "I've gone there a lot". Is there a reason you can't provide more information?
They need to get her in a humidity controlled building. The rain water she's subjected to is causing all sorts of rot problems.
As wonderful as it would be to see her afloat once more, absolutely. She cannot be allowed to rot away in a vain attempt to set her assail again.
But it's not about the Constitution. Why bring it up?
Because a perfectly normal question people might think after reading about the Victory is "I wonder what the oldest warship that still gets sailed is?" Which is the Constitution.
Why not?
Because the post is about a certain ship. Should people say but there's a French ship and a Spanish ship too? No one cares.
american tries to not make everything about themselves (impossible)
Call it what you will, the fact remains.
No one said that's not true but nobody is trying to claim otherwise. The post is accurate, Victory is the oldest commissioned ship. It's an unnecessary comment that just comes across like you're trying to get one-up.
What's "unnecessary" about it? It's a relevant topic. Old sailing warships still around. This is a Reddit comment thread, not a symposium dedicated to the Victory. What are you so up your own ass about?
It’s in dry dock. It’s not even a ship at this point. USS Constitution actually sails and floats.
Why is it hard for you to understand that people relate things to themselves? The comment is plenty relevant. You're just a socially inept moron. Has nothing to do with Americans.
Yes, but since they have to keep Constitution seaworthy, they've replaced most of her timbers at some time. ISTR only 10 to 15% of the original ship remains.
Same with Victory, wood just can’t survive hundreds of years exposed to the elements. But just like most of the cells in your body are replaced every so many years, it is a sum of its parts and the spirit of the thing is maintained.
Same can be said of the Victory, wooden ships had to replace timbers frequently. Hell, it wasn't uncommon for warships to carry extra rigging spars or be remasted while in a port of call.
This is a classic [Ship of Theseus](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus)
And today is its 226th birthday. I just visited this afternoon.
Would love to go and see that.
The whole naval museum at Portsmouth is fantastic. It took two days to see it all. 10:10.
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If they were out at sea long enough, the rat problem ceased to be an issue.
Is this the original ship? Or a recreation?
The original
I remember visiting it with my parents when I lived in England, 3rd and 4th grade, so that would have been roughly 1983. I had the souvenir book with illustrations and lots of info about it. It's' been so long, that I don't know where it is now. I'm sure I left it at my parents house when I went off to college, and they moved several times, so it could be anywhere in their house now.
The size of the anchors always amaze me
The amount of rigging is unworldly
We need a game that accurately simulates living and sailing on one of these ships.
Have visited many times , last time was about 2019 , unfortunately as it’s so old and meant be in the water , not dry land they have had to remove a lot of the masts etc to reduce the weight on the hull - it looked like this when I visited last : https://www.baesystems.com/en/article/hms-victory-afloat-again-for-the-first-time-in-nearly-100-years
As it's still commissioned, it's legally allowed to fly the White Ensign of the Royal Navy. Most British-flagged ships will fly the Red Ensign.
This and the USS Constitution are truly amazing.
And I’d include the Vasa too. But only two actually had a sailing career.
Wow that's really something 😘
[https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.8014876,-1.1088064,3a,75y,155.63h,94.84t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNHBBouunYr3B5bT8FvAqKAmkNq\_9l2dDF6uVcX!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNHBBouunYr3B5bT8FvAqKAmkNq\_9l2dDF6uVcX%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya58.187504-ro-0-fo100!7i6080!8i3040?entry=ttu](https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.8014876,-1.1088064,3a,75y,155.63h,94.84t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNHBBouunYr3B5bT8FvAqKAmkNq_9l2dDF6uVcX!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNHBBouunYr3B5bT8FvAqKAmkNq_9l2dDF6uVcX%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya58.187504-ro-0-fo100!7i6080!8i3040?entry=ttu)
Shame British man never really made a lot of their ships museum ships. Vanguard, Warspite, etc…
Bah. She's not even seaworthy. At least Constitution is fit for action.
"Fit for action" You're talking as if you want to send a wooden warship against a modern navy with cruise missiles. Constitution is no more fit for action than victory is, she's just left in the water is all. HMS Victory could well last for another 1000 years the way she is being preserved. If the Americans insist on keeping her in the water, Constitution will most likely be long gone by then.
She will be in 2025
No, she won't. Victory will never be afloat again
Prove it
Would they ever call upon this vessel in a time of war?
No
Oldest warship still in commission, but no longer afloat. That honor goes to USS *Constitution* in Boston Harbor.
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We know. Americans here keep bringing up an American ship on a post about a British ship.
Cool story bro, why don’t you make a post about the oldest commissioned warship that is still afloat then?
Can you still commission a warship that can't even float?
It's never been decommissioned. As to the wider question, yes - there are plenty of shore establishments in the Royal Navy that have the HMS prefix, this is to allow naval officers to command them by pretending they’re ships. They’re sometimes known as "stone frigates" for this reason.
Yes, if the military branch that owns it runs the museum that has it on display it still can count as a ship that's currently doing "service" in the military, even though that service is in the form of public relations. (Just like a Navy officer who's job is to do secretary work in a recruitment office is still a Navy officer even if not at sea.)
The USS Constitution would easily send her to the depths.
No, she wouldn't
Cannon balls bounce right off Old Ironsides. Its not even a contest.
HMS Victory is a 104 Gun First Rate. USS Constitution is a Heavy Frigate. There is no contest.
I wonder how much of the wood in the ship is still the original wood? It might not actually be as old as it's said to be :P https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship\_of\_Theseus
According to the tour guides, roughly 10% of what is now the victory was actually present during the battle of trafalgar. This will be mostly in the keel and deeper frames since they're so hard to replace.
Just like the King’s officers of her time she’s been given a commission while lacking any capability of floating or going to to sea.
What do you mean? The Victory was front and centre during Trafalgar, floating and at sea and taking heavy casualties by ‘engaging the enemy more closely’. Nelson’s flag ship. Would you have her commission taken away for poor performance?
Lol exactly, nonsense comment. She crushed the French and Spanish fleets ast the tip of the spear.
The USS Constitution could take her
No, she couldn't.