Sailing ship Victoria. Admiral Nelson's flagship Victory. Further fate of the vessel

In Portmouth there is a fake ship, not the Nelson ship itself, made in 1916 for the Museum.

“From January 12, 1922 to the present, in the city of Portsmouth, in the Maritime Historical Museum, there is an exact copy of the famous battleship, which personifies the centuries-old glory and victory of Britain in the Battle of Trafalgar, in which Russian sailors also took part.

http://korabley.net/news/samoe_izvestnoe_parusnoe_sudno_britanii_klassicheskij_linkor_victory/2009-10-23-395
And here is a repost of the photo report, from which it is clearly visible that this is a completely new ship.
Original taken from book_bukv in the History of “Victoria” there will be!

In the process of clarifying some information about the history of the ship, it became clear.

That the longevity of the Victoria is still an exceptional case even by the standards of the English fleet.
That the history of the ship is not very simple and not as straightforward as they tell tourists.
That she is even more interesting than she previously thought.
And that finding it on the Internet, without inventions and inventions, is very difficult.

Therefore, here is a brief history of “Victoria” as presented by me.
Sources will be mentioned separately.

Part one. Design and construction

The ship's history began in February 1756, when surveyor engineer Thomas Slade,
was appointed Chief Builder of a new first-class battleship.
According to the terms of reference of the Admiralty, the Royal George was to serve as a prototype -
the only one-hundred-gun battleship in the British fleet at that time.

Slade was supposed to start building the ship by logging, which took several years
had to dry and ripen for work. But the Admiralty was in a hurry - the Seven Years' War began,
ships were needed. Then the builder found a warehouse of ten-year-old ship's wood
and there was no need to make compromises. There are opinions that due to the construction of the ship from a very old
and seasoned material he lived for such a long time.

In 1757, the Admiralty was again headed by Lord George Anson - a very energetic but efficient leader
and the storming at the shipyards stopped. Also, while Slade was looking for wood and producing blueprints,
England severely crushed France at sea. Apparently this is why Victoria was built slowly
and this is the second reason for her longevity.

July 23, 1759, on one of the slipways of Chatham - the main naval arsenal and shipyard of England -
The groundbreaking ceremony took place. Since the year was very fruitful for victories, the ship was given the name “Victory”,
despite the fact that it was already the fifth “Victory” of the British Navy, and despite the fact that
that the fourth "Victory" - a 110-gun ship of the first rank built in 1737, was lost during a storm
in 1744, as usual with the entire crew.

During those harsh war years, the shipyards of England were mainly engaged in the repair of ships,
damaged in battles and campaigns, and construction proceeded slowly. Therefore, in the spring of 1763,
when the Seven Years' War ended with the victory of England, "Victory" was
keel with frame ribs barely connected to each other.

But after the war, work began to boil - already on May 7, 1765, the ship was launched,
and although its completion took another 13 years, in 1778 the battleship Victory was added to the fleet lists.
The ship cost £63,176 to build - practically nothing
the country received another wonderful instrument of its history and glory.

Now Victory is painted according to the canons of the 18th century: black top, yellow middle like a beeline >

the figurehead after perestroika in 1799 became a heraldic wick >

Now all the rigging is made from Italian hemp, but once it was from Russian >

balconies and stern decor are also after the reconstruction of 1799
unoriginal
practically fake >

Well, modern designers chose the font too, hello
in Nelson's time they used normal English typefaces
Caslon or Baskerville
so that the British would then sign their ship with a capital square
it's not even funny you know >

Victoria is a legendary ship of the British Navy. It was launched in 1765. This is a ship of the line that took part in the Battle of Trafalgar; Admiral Nelson was wounded on board. The most interesting thing is that this ship, which did not take part in battles after 1812, has survived to this day. She has lain in Portsmouth's oldest dock since 1922, is an excellent example of the navy of the day, has now been converted into a museum and is the oldest complete ship from the bygone era of England's dominion of the sea.

"Victoria" - the flagship of the English fleet

"Victoria" is a first class ship; ships of this class carried a minimum of three masts. Ancient ships carried weapons only on their sides, so the most effective battle tactic was to line up several ships in a line and fire a salvo. The cannons of a large sixty-meter ship, when fired simultaneously from one side, fired almost half a ton of cannonballs! Such large ships were called battleships.

History of "Victoria"

The ship "Victoria" was laid down on July 23, 1759 in Chatham according to the design of Thomas Slade. According to the report, it was a sunny and bright day. Initially, 250 people were hired for construction, but the seven-year war confused the plans, and the ship was launched only in 1765. The dimensions of the Victoria were close to the maximum possible for a wooden ship, without the use of metal in the main structures. The length of Victoria is 227 feet or 69 meters, the width is 51 feet and 10 inches - almost 16 meters. The casing was reinforced with a layer of copper. A steering wheel was used on the ship; this was an innovation; previously, ships had a mechanical lifting pedestal system to control the massive steering wheel. Sailing weapons have also become much more efficient. On sharp courses we used slanting staysails and mizzens, on full courses we used foxes.

Construction of "Victoria"

A special commission of the Admiralty accepted the ship in 1776. On Friday, May 8, 1778, Victoria hoisted her sails for the first time, fired a salute of her guns, and put to sea under the command of Sir John Lindsay.

Design features of the ship

The ship has four decks that stretch the entire length of the hull. Supplies, provisions, gunpowder and water were stored on the lowest deck. The cabins of medical personnel and midshipmen were located immediately behind the cockpit, also on the lower deck. Kubrick became the headquarters during hostilities. The lower, middle and upper decks each accommodated 30 guns of various calibers. Victoria's broadside could send almost half a ton of cannonballs over a distance of more than a mile. The middle artillery deck housed the infirmary and galley. Crew members spent the night in hanging bunks on the middle and lower gun decks. The admiral's cabin was located aft, on the upper gun deck. The upper open gun deck mainly contained rigging and winches with which to control the ship.

Interior of the ship

"Victoria" inside - model

Gun deck

The office of the famous Admiral Nelson, who led the British fleet to victory on the Victoria, was small in size, and his personal cabin was generally modest; the admiral slept on a hanging bunk. Nelson received guests and officers in the dining room. This was in stark contrast to the opulent decoration of the galleons of the previous century. Although the Victoria looks like a huge three-story palace from the outside, it does not have as many decorations and carvings as earlier ships. Everything is given to military expediency.

At Portsmouth dock

The ship is like a floating fortress designed to ensure England's supremacy at sea. This is the "wooden gate of England" which cannot be crossed.

Battle of Trafalgar

In 1778, France recognized American independence and vowed to defend with arms its trade relations with the young state. England began to prepare for war.

"Victoria" is preparing for battle

When Napoleon came to power, relations not only worsened, but war broke out. Great Britain participated in it in alliance with Austria, Russia, Sweden, and the Kingdom of Naples. Napoleon's army was the strongest on land, it blocked communications with Great Britain, but in turn, England put a naval blockade on Napoleon, preventing the supply of troops and Napoleon's communication with the colonies. Bonaparte decided to gather all naval forces, clear the English Channel of English ships and land troops in England. For these purposes, Napoleon assembled a large combined fleet of France and Spain. However, in France by this time there was a shortage of competent and skillful naval officers; they were destroyed by the revolution. The British sailors were experienced warriors, they took part in many battles. The collision of these fleets led to the largest and most widespread naval battle of the 19th century - the Battle of Trafalgar. The battle began on October 21, 1805 on the Atlantic coast of Spain near the city of Cadiz. The outcome of this battle was supposed to show who now owned the sea and, ultimately, the whole world. Against 33 British ships under the leadership of Admiral Nelson on the flagship Victoria were 40 ships of the combined fleet under the command of Pierre-Charles Villeneuve.

Start of the battle

"Victoria" at the Battle of Trafalgar

At the beginning of the Battle of Trafalgar, the Victoria had 104 guns, including two 64-pounder carronades and 30 32-pounder guns. In preparation for the battle, Nelson took into account all factors: swell, wind, waves. He formed the ships in two columns and stood at the head of the left. He put on his dress uniform and went out onto the upper deck so he could be seen. To all persuasion to go down, he answered - the sailors must see their commander. At eleven o'clock the first shots of the flaring battle were fired.

Two columns plunged into the center of the formations of the combined French-Spanish fleet. This fleet stood in a crescent formation; it did not have time to form into columns; the wind was in the way. The historic battle has begun. The lead ships of the British broke through the formation, firing from all their guns. Victoria entered between the enemy's two largest ships: the Spanish lumbering giant Santisima Trinidad, which was equipped with 144 guns, and the French flagship Bucentaure.

"Victoria" is engaged in a boarding battle with a French ship

The formation of ships was mixed, each ship looked for an enemy and fought with him. Nelson was seen by a gunner on the French ship Redontable, with which the Victoria engaged in a boarding battle, and inflicted a mortal wound on him. Horatio Nelson was taken to the Victoria infirmary; from the infirmary Nelson kept asking about the progress of the battle. “This day is yours,” they answered him, although by that time it was not clear whether the British had won or not.

Nelson was in the thick of the battle

Nelson passed away. The British continued the battle; they were far superior in training to the French and Spaniards; the British responded to each salvo of the French-Spanish fleet with three salvos. The English artillerymen were also distinguished by their accuracy - by firing at the cannon ports, they disabled the enemy’s artillery. Three hours after the start of the battle, most of the ships of the combined squadron were defeated or captured. At two o'clock in the afternoon the Bucentaure surrendered with the leader of the French-Spanish fleet, Villeneuve. The ships of the combined fleet began to leave the battle. The outcome of the battle became clear. The Allies lost 17 ships (Santisima Trinidad sank during transportation during a storm) and more than seven thousand people. The British lost 2 thousand sailors, but saved all the ships, although some were so battered and broken that they had to be towed. The Victoria with Nelson's body was towed to Gibraltar for repairs.

Further fate of the vessel

After repairs, the ship patrolled the Baltic and Spanish coasts until 1812. Then returned to Portsmouth. In 1889, Victoria became the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief and remains so to this day. In 1922, they decided to give the ship the look that the battleship had during the Battle of Trafalgar. Currently, the ship has been turned into a museum.

Gun deck

Aft

http://amcsailing.ru/article/230.html

Armament

• 12-pound light guns - 44 pieces;
• 24-pound light guns - 28 pieces;
• 32-pound linear guns - 30 pcs.;
• 64-pound carronades - 2 pcs.

HMS Victory (1765) (Russian: "Victoria" or "Victory") - a battleship of the first rank of the Royal Navy of the British Navy. He took part in many naval battles, including the Battle of Trafalgar. Currently, the ship is turned into a museum, which is one of the main attractions of Portsmouth..

History of creation

On July 23, 1759, a ceremony was held at the Chatham shipyard to lay the keel of the new ship, which was a 45-meter long elm beam. The year 1759 was a year of military victories for England (at Minden and Hesse the French suffered particularly heavy defeats), so the newly built ship was given the name HMS Victory, i.e. “Victory”. By that time, four ships bearing this name had already served in the English Navy. Last HMS Victory was a 110-gun ship of rank I, built in 1737. In his seventh year of service, he was caught in a severe storm and died along with his entire crew.

Construction progressed slowly, because The Seven Years' War was going on and the shipyard was mainly busy repairing ships damaged in battles. In this regard, there was not enough strength or funds for a new ship. When the Seven Years' War ended, only the wooden frame of the future large ship stood in the dock.

But this leisurely construction played a positive role and was beneficial. A significant part of the timber material had been stored at the shipyard since 1746, and over the many years while construction was underway, the material acquired excellent strength qualities.

Only six years later, after laying the keel, on May 7, 1765 HMS Victory was launched. It was the largest and most beautiful ship that was ever built.

Prerequisites for creation

In 1756, the well-known Seven Years' War began in history, in which many European countries, including Russia, participated. The war was started by Great Britain, which could not share the colonies in North America and the East Indies with France. In this war, both countries needed a strong navy.

At that time, the British fleet had only one large, 100-gun battleship Royal James. The Admiralty ordered Chief Inspector Sir Thomas Slade to urgently build a new hundred-gun ship, using Royal James and making the necessary design improvements.

Description of design

The best types of wood were used in the construction of the building. The frames were made of English oak. The builders provided two hull skins: external and internal. The outer skin was made of Baltic oak, specially brought to England from Poland and East Prussia. In 1780, the underwater part of the hull was covered with copper sheets (3,923 sheets in total), which were attached to the wooden planking with iron nails.

The bow of the ship was decorated with a huge figure of King George III wearing a laurel wreath, supported by allegorical figures of Britain, Victory and others. At the aft end there were intricate carved balconies.

As was customary on ships of that time, no superstructures were provided on the deck. Near the mizzen mast there was a platform for the helmsman. There was a steering wheel for shifting the huge rudder located behind the stern. In order to cope with it, great efforts were needed, and usually two or even four of the strongest sailors were put at the helm.

At the stern was the best admiral's cabin, and below it was the commander's cabin. There were no cabins for the sailors; bunks were hung on one of the battery decks for the night. (As a rule, the bunks were pieces of thick canvas measuring 1.8 X 1.2 m, from the narrow sides of which there were thin but strong ropes, tied together and attached to a thicker one. Finally, the rope was tied to slats nailed to wooden beams.Early in the morning, the beds were tied and placed in special boxes located along the sides.

In the lower tween deck of the ship there were storerooms for provisions and crew chambers where barrels of gunpowder were stored. There was a bomb magazine in the bow of the tween deck. Of course, there were no mechanical means for lifting gunpowder and cannonballs, and during the battle all ammunition was lifted by hand, moving from deck to deck by hand (this was not so difficult on ships of that time, since the distances between decks did not exceed 1.8 m ).

The big problem on any wooden ship is the inability to be completely watertight. Despite the most careful caulking and sealing of seams, water invariably seeped out, accumulated and began to emit a putrid odor, and contributed to decay. Therefore on HMS Victory, as on any other wooden ship, the sailors were forced to periodically go down inside the hull and pump out the bilge water, for which hand pumps were provided in the midship frame area.

Above deck HMS Victory three masts rose, which carried the full sailing rig of the ship. The sail area was 260 square meters. m. Speed ​​up to 11 knots. According to the custom of that time, the sides of the hull were painted black, and yellow stripes were drawn in the area of ​​the gun ports.

Crew and life

The cockpits traditionally housed the sailors, while the officers were provided with cabins. The lower deck was called the cockpit, where the crew settled down to sleep, first right on the deck, then in hanging bunks.

During the Battle of Trafalgar the crew consisted of 821 men. It would be possible to get by with far fewer men, but greater numbers are necessary to maneuver and fire the guns.

Most of the crew, more than 500 people, are experienced sailors who sailed and fought on ships. Their salaries were assessed according to their skill and experience.

Daily diet and food storage

It is important that food supplies remain in proper condition, because... the team is on the high seas. The diet on the ship was limited: salted beef and pork, cookies, peas and oatmeal, butter and cheese. Barrels and bags were used for storage. Food safety was carried out in the hold.

By the time of the Battle of Trafalgar, scurvy, caused by a lack of vitamin C in the diet, had begun to spread. To overcome this disease, fresh vegetables were regularly taken with the addition of lemon juice and a small amount of rum. In general, the diet was sufficient and amounted to approximately 5,000 calories per day, which was vital for keeping the crew healthy during heavy physical work.

The daily diet included 6.5 pints of beer; on a long hike this norm was replaced by 0.5 liters of wine or half a pint of rum. For work in the galley, 4-8 people were allocated under the direction of the ship's cook.

Discipline and punishment

Constant discipline was required to operate the ship efficiently and safely, as well as to achieve successful victory.

Crew discipline was organized in several ways. Work for 1-2 hours was carried out under supervision. For more complex activities on board the ship, each person was given a specific place to work. Control was carried out by officers.

When committing a crime or misdemeanor, the captain announced penalties to the guilty party. Most often, the punishment was lashes from 12 to 36 strokes for crimes: drunkenness, insolence or neglect of one's duties. This type of punishment was carried out mainly by the boatswain, after tying the offender to a wooden grate on the deck and stripping him to the waist. A sailor caught stealing must run through a line of crew members who beat him with a knotted rope at the ends.

Another method of punishment was correction by starvation. The offender was shackled in leg shackles on the battery deck and fed only bread and water.

The most severe punishments for crimes such as mutiny or desertion were flogging and hanging. The perpetrators could receive up to 300 lashes, which were often fatal.

Armament. Modernization and refurbishment

Each gun was mounted on a carriage, with the help of which it was rolled back to load the cannonball. In one gun crew there were 7 people who were responsible for the cannon being loaded in a timely manner and the shot fired strictly on command. A charge of gunpowder was placed in the barrel of the gun, followed by a wad, then a cannonball and another wad. The charge with gunpowder was pierced so that it could easily ignite from a spark, after which more gunpowder was added. The gun commander moved the bolt to the side and pulled the cord, after which a spark appeared, thanks to which the cannonball rushed to the intended target. The sailors loaded the cannons with different shells, which were intended for different types of destruction. There was enough gunpowder on the ship to blow up the entire ship. Powder warehouses were illuminated by lanterns standing behind the glass window of the adjacent room, and coal panels in the walls protected the cellar from moisture.

The composition of the artillery armament changed several times during its many years of service.

The original project called for the installation of one hundred guns.

By the beginning of the 1778 campaign, Admiral Keppel ordered the replacement of 30 units. 42-pounder guns on the gondeck to lighter 32-pounder ones.

However, already in 1779 the composition of the weapons became the same.

In July 1779, the Admiralty approved a standard provision for supplying all ships of the fleet with carronades, according to which in 1780 six 18-pound carronades were additionally installed on the poop, and two 24-pound ones on the forecastle, which were replaced by 32-pounders in 1782. At the same time, twelve 6-pounder guns were replaced by ten 12-pounder and two 32-pounder carronades, bringing the total number of carronades to ten. The total number as of 1782 was 108 guns.

In the first half of the 1790s, the ships of the British fleet began to be re-equipped with new cannons designed by Thomas Blomefield with a finned ear and new carronades. In 1803 HMS Victory underwent a major overhaul, after which its artillery armament increased: in the quarterdeck by 2, on the forecastle it was replaced by 2 carronades of 24-lb. There were 102 guns in total.

By the time of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, two 12-pounder medium guns had been installed on the forecastle, and the 24-pounder carronades had been replaced with 64-pounder ones, bringing the total number to 104 guns.

Service history

Service

The ship was launched at Chatham two years after the end of the Seven Years' War, on 7 May 1765, but active service did not begin until 1778, when the Admiralty decided to arm the ship and prepare her for active service. The commissioning of the ship was a consequence of the events unfolding at that time. In March 1778, the French king Louis XVI declared the recognition of the North American states as independent from England and announced his intention to establish trade and economic relations with free America. If necessary, France was ready to defend this trade by force. In response, George III recalled his ambassador from Paris. There was a smell of war in the air and the Admiralty began to gather forces.

Augustus Keppel was appointed commander of the fleet, who elected HMS Victory his flagship ship. The first commander was John Lindsay.

It took approximately two and a half months to prepare and armament, after which King George III visited Chatham. After the visit of the king, who was satisfied with the work of his shipyard, HMS Victory transferred to Portsmouth. While stationed at the Spithead roadstead, Augustus Keppel ordered that the thirty 42-pounder guns on the gondeck be replaced with lighter 32-pounder ones, which reduced the weight load and slightly increased the free space on the deck.

Battle of Ouessant Island

The Battle of Ushant Island (English: Battle of Ushant, French: Bataille d'Ouessant) - a naval battle between the English fleet under the command of Admiral Augustus Keppel and the French fleet under the command of Count Gillouet d'Orvilliers, which took place on July 27, 1778 near the island of Ouessant during American Revolutionary War The result of the battle caused discord in the Royal Navy and throughout British society.

On the morning of July 27, 1778, with a wind from the SW, the fleets were 6-10 miles apart. Both were sailing on port tack to the NW. Both were in some confusion, but the French held the column, and the British formed a bearing to the left. Thus, the latter could, after tacking, immediately form a line of battle steeply to the wind. Judging that it was unprofitable to build a line methodically, Keppel raised the “general pursuit” signal, again trying to get closer. His ships, each independently, made a turn towards the enemy, after which Hugh Palliser's division (eng. Hugh Palliser, flagship HMS Formidable) became the right wing, farthest from the enemy; Keppel with HMS Victory was in the center, and Harland (eng. sir Robert Harland, flagship HMS Queen) on the left flank. At 5:30 a.m., the seven best walkers in Palliser's division were signaled to pursue the enemy downwind.

At 9 am, the French admiral ordered his fleet to jibe successively, which brought him somewhat closer to the British and temporarily doubled the line. But the advantage of the position was to remain. However, the wind setting by two points, from SW to SSW, slowed down the maneuver and increased the drift of the French. Their order became even more disordered. The lead ships, which had already made a turn, were prevented from arriving by their own end ships, heading in the opposite direction. Only after passing the last ship in the line could they take a steeper turn to keep the British at bay.

When, at about 11:00 a.m., Orvillers was already making a new turn on the opposite course. Realizing that the wind allowed Keppel to catch up with the end ships and start a battle at will, he decided to act actively, since he could no longer avoid the battle.

Keppel did not raise the signal to build a line, correctly assessing that the immediate task was to force the evading enemy into battle. In addition, 7 rearguard ships moved to the wind after the morning signal, and now almost his entire fleet could enter the battle, albeit in some disorder. The start of the battle was so sudden that the ships did not even have time to raise their battle flags. According to the testimony of British captains, the formation was so uneven that Palliser's flagship, Formidable, almost all the time he put the cruising topsail into the wind so as not to run into the one in front Egmont. Wherein Ocean, which barely had enough space to shoot into the interval between them, stayed to the left and out of the wind, but even then risked falling on Egmont, or get hit by one of them.

Passing on a counter course along the enemy's formation, under reefed sails, both fleets tried to inflict as much damage as possible. As usually happens on such courses, the shooting took place in a disorganized manner; each ship itself chose the moment of the salvo. The British shot mainly at the hull, the French tried to hit the rigging and spars. The British were sharply close-hauled, the French were four points freer. Their leading ships could have been brought down and closed the distance, but fulfilling their duty, they supported the others. In general, according to d'Orvillier's order, they built a steeper line, which gradually took them further from the British guns. It was an unprepared skirmish at a long distance, but still better than nothing. Against the usual, the British rearguard suffered the most - his the losses were almost equal to those of the other two divisions - mostly he was closer to the enemy.

As soon as the 10 ships of the vanguard separated from the French, Harland, anticipating the admiral's signal, ordered them to turn and follow the enemy. Around 1 o'clock in the afternoon when HMS Victory left the shelling zone, the center also received the same signal - Keppel ordered a jibe: the cut rigging did not allow it to turn into the wind. But that is why the maneuver required caution. Only by 2 o'clock HMS Victory laid down on a new tack, following the French. The rest turned as best they could. Formidable At this time, Palliser was passing towards the flagship from the wind. Four or five ships, uncontrollable due to damage to the rigging, remained to the right and to leeward. Around that time the signal “engage in battle” was lowered and the signal “form the battle line” was raised.

In turn, d'Orvilliers, seeing the disarray into which the British had arrived after all the maneuvers, decided to take advantage of the moment. His fleet was moving in a fairly orderly column, and at 1 o'clock in the afternoon he ordered a turn sequentially, with the intention of passing the British out of the wind. At the same time, the French could bring into battle all the cannons on the windward side, that is, the high side. On the other side, the lower ports had to be kept closed. But the lead ship did not see the signal, and only de Chartres, the fourth from the beginning, rehearsed and began to turn. Passing by the flagship, he voiced clarified his intention, but due to an error by the lead ship, the opportune moment was missed.

Only at 2:30 the maneuver became obvious to the British. Keppel with HMS Victory immediately jibed again and began to descend downwind towards the uncontrollable ships, still holding the signal to form a line. He probably intended to save them from impending destruction. Harland and his division turned immediately and aimed under the stern. By 4 o'clock he had lined up. Palliser's ships, repairing damage, occupied places in front and behind Formidable. Their captains later stated that they considered the ship of the vice admiral, not the commander-in-chief, to be the equalizer. Thus, from the windward, 1-2 miles aft of the flagship, a second line of five ships formed. At 5 o'clock Keppel and the frigate sent them an order to join quickly. But the French, having already completed their maneuver, did not attack, although they could have.

Harland and his division were ordered to take a place in the vanguard, which he did. Palliser did not approach. By 7:00 pm Keppel finally began raising individual signals to his ships, ordering them to abandon Formidable and join the line. Everyone obeyed, but by this time it was almost dark. Keppel considered it too late to resume the battle. The next morning, only 3 French ships remained in sight of the British. The French avoided further battle.

Battle of Cape Spartel

The Battle of Cape Spartel was a battle between the British fleet of Lord Howe and the combined Spanish-French fleet of Luis de Cordoba, which took place on October 20, 1782 on the approaches to Gibraltar, during the American War of Independence. At dawn on October 20, the two fleets crossed paths 18 miles off Cape Spartel on the Barbary coast. This time Howe was to leeward and almost stopped his fleet. Thus, he gave the Spaniards the choice to engage or evade at will.

Cordoba ordered a general pursuit, regardless of the observance of formation. For the Spaniards, among whom there were especially slow ones, for example the flagship Santisima Trinidad, it was the only way to get closer. By about one o'clock in the afternoon the distance between the fleets had been reduced to 2 miles - twice the maximum firing range. The Franco-Spanish ships were to windward and to the right. Santisima Trinidad by this time he had reached the center of the line, which the Spaniards had to build again.

During this time, Howe closed the line, concentrating his 34 ships against the enemy's 31. The standard counter-move in such cases is to grab the short line from the ends. But the advantage of the British movement did not allow the enemy such a maneuver. Instead, some of his ships, including two three-deck ones, were actually out of the battle.

At 5:45 p.m. the leading Spaniards opened fire. An exchange of salvos followed, with both fleets continuing to move; the British gradually pulled forward without engaging in close combat. The shooting stopped as night fell. The loss of life was approximately equal on both sides.

On the morning of October 21, the fleet was separated by approximately 12 miles. Cordova repaired the damage and was ready to continue the fight, but this did not happen. Taking advantage of the gap, Howe took the fleet to England. On 14 November he returned to Spithead.

HMS Victory was in the 1st Central Division under the command of Captain John Livingstone, being the flagship of Admiral Lord Richard Howe.

The battle did not bring a decisive victory to anyone. But the British completed the important operation without losing a single ship. The fleet averted the threat of a new assault on Gibraltar. In essence, the siege was lifted. All this lifted the spirit of the British after recent losses (the scale of the victory at All Saints was not yet fully known) and improved the position of their diplomacy in the peace negotiations that soon began.

Battle of Cape San Vicente

Having entered naval service at the age of 12, Horatio Nelson had already reached the rank of lieutenant by the age of 18, and at 26 he became captain of a warship, on board of which he took part in the battle on February 14, 1797 at Cape Sao Vicente in Portugal, which occurred between the English a fleet under the command of Admiral John Jervis and a Spanish squadron. Having reached Cape San Vicente, the English fleet of 15 ships found itself within sight of the Spanish fleet of 26-27 ships, 8 of which were at a distance insufficient for a quick approach to the rest of the forces. In addition, the wind rose at sea, which also contributed to the natural division of the Spanish fleet, whose commander was José de Cordova.

Realizing how important it was for the English fleet to win this particular battle, John Jervis decided at dawn on February 14 to attack most of the Spanish ships, in the hope that the rest would not have time to get close enough to fire. The English warships lined up and prepared for the attack, the Spaniards, who had not noticed the fleet for a long time due to heavy fog, were not ready for it, this is what the experienced admiral actually hoped to play, deciding to go through the ranks of enemy ships. It was planned that the ships of the English fleet, having come into contact with the Spanish ships, would tack and thus encircle most of the enemy. But the maneuver was unsuccessful, since one of the ships lost the foresail and top yards during a turn, and, accordingly, was forced to gybe, which gave the Spaniards some advantage.

Seeing that the English ships could lose all the advantage they had gained, and the initiative would pass to the Spaniards, Captain Nelson made the fateful decision to violate the admiral's orders and turn the ship, engaging in battle with one of the enemy's most well-equipped warships. Recognizing his maneuver, Admiral Jervis ordered the remaining ships nearby to assist Nelson, an order that became decisive in the subsequent defeat of the Spanish flotilla.

Nelson's prank disrupted the even linear formation of the ships, but saved the fleet from inevitable defeat, therefore, instead of the gallows, which threatened the captain for violating the order of a superior, he was, under the patronage of Jervis, promoted to the rank of rear admiral, received a lifelong charter of nobility, became a baron and was honored with the Order of the Bath.

The crew of the ship Captain, whose captain was Nelson, thanks to his maneuver captured two Spanish ships and also did not go without rewards, in fact, like the admiral himself, who became a lord. Unfortunately, most of the brave captain's crew was wounded or killed, since the ship was in the very center of a firefight between the British and the Spaniards.

Participation in the Battle of Trafalgar

Historical events in Europe at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries were mainly influenced by Napoleon Bonaparte. The French had the upper hand already in 1803, but the Emperor's thoughts extended across the English Channel to the British Isles. Napoleon had no doubt that someday he would have the opportunity to defeat his sworn enemy. He also realized that the conquest of Great Britain was impossible without the conquest of the British fleet. His attempt to achieve his intended goal resulted in a bloody naval battle near the Spanish city of Cadiz. This naval battle became one of the most famous in the world naval history, and today it is called the Trafalgar naval battle.

On October 21, 1805, Villeneuve led his ship crews to a naval battle near Cape Trafalgar. A few months before the battle, back in Toulon, the French admiral outlined the plan of the conservative British to the ship commanders. The British would not be content with a single line of ships parallel to the French formation; they would place two columns at right angles to them and try to break through the French naval formation in several places, in order to then finish off the scattered forces. In addition, 33 French ships, against 27 English ships, was considered a certain advantage. However, the guns of Admiral Villeneuve's ships were not entirely accurate and did little damage, and the reload time was excessively long.

The British plan was deliberately simple. They divided the fleet into two squadrons. One was commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson, who intended to break the enemy's chain and destroy the ships in the vanguard and in the center, and the second squadron, under the command of Rear Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, was to attack the enemy from the rear.

At 06:00 on 21 October 1805, the British fleet formed into two lines. The flagship of the first line, consisting of 15 ships, was the battleship Royal Sovereign, carried by Rear Admiral Collingwood. The second line, under the command of Admiral Nelson, consisted of 12 ships, and the flagship was the battleship HMS Victory. The wooden decks were sprinkled with sand, which protected against fire and absorbed blood. Having removed everything unnecessary that could interfere, the sailors prepared for battle.

At 08:00, Admiral Villeneuve gave the order to change course and return to Cadiz. Such a maneuver before the start of a naval battle upset the battle formation. The French-Spanish fleet, which was a crescent-shaped formation curved to the right towards the mainland, began to turn around chaotically. Dangerous gaps in the distance appeared in the formation of ships, and some ships, in order to avoid colliding with their neighbors, were forced to “fall out” of formation. Admiral Nelson, meanwhile, was approaching. He intended to break the line before the French sailing ships approached Cadiz. And he succeeded. A great naval battle began. Cannonballs flew, masts began to break and fall, people were dying, the wounded were screaming. It was complete hell.

In a number of battles in which the British were victorious, the French took a defensive position. They sought to limit the damage and increase the chances of retreat. This French position resulted in flawed military tactics. For example, gun crews were ordered to aim at masts and rigging to deny the enemy the opportunity to pursue French ships if they retreated. The British always aimed at the hull of a ship to kill or maim the enemy crew. In the tactics of naval combat, longitudinal shelling of enemy ships was considered the most effective, with the shelling being conducted at the stern. In this case, with an accurate hit, the cannonballs rushed from stern to bow, causing incredible damage to the ship along its entire length. During the Battle of Trafalgar, the French flagship was damaged by such shelling. Bucentaure, who lowered the flag, and Villeneuve surrendered. During the battle, it was not always possible to perform the complex maneuver necessary for a longitudinal attack on the ship. Sometimes the ships stood alongside each other and opened fire from a short distance. If the ship's crew survived the terrible shelling, then hand-to-hand combat awaited them. Opponents often sought to capture each other's ships.

Nelson chose to strike the most vulnerable ship Redoutable. Having come close, the boarding battle began. The sailors mowed each other down for 15 minutes. Shooter on Mars Redoutable spotted Nelson on the deck and shot him with a musket. The bullet went through the epaulette, pierced the shoulder and lodged in the spine. The admiral gave the command to cover his face so as not to demoralize the sailors.

Admiral Villeneuve gave the flag signal to all ships to attack, but there was no reinforcement. Nelson carried out his plan and plunged the French into complete chaos. The naval battle line was broken. The French ships lost contact with the Spaniards. The balance of forces changed not in favor of the French, defeat was inevitable. The heavy English artillery fired non-stop, the cannonballs fell into a pile of corpses that were not thrown into the sea in time. The surgeons were completely exhausted; it took only 15 seconds to amputate the limbs, otherwise the wounded man simply could not stand the pain.

At 17:30 the naval battle ended. By this point, 18 French and Spanish sailing ships could not continue the battle and were captured.

The Battle of Trafalgar is considered the largest naval battle in the history of the British Navy. The British lost 448 sailors, including the commander of the English fleet, Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, and 1,200 wounded. The combined Franco-Spanish fleet lost 4,400 people killed and 2,500 wounded. More than 5 thousand were captured, hundreds of survivors went deaf, and many ships were broken beyond repair.

The result of the Battle of Trafalgar affected the fate of both the winner and the loser. France and Spain lost their naval power forever. Napoleon abandoned his plans to land troops in England and invade the Kingdom of Neopolitan. Great Britain finally acquired the status of mistress of the seas.

Ships of the same name

A total of six ships of the British Royal Navy were built, which were called HMS Victory:

HMS Victory (1569)- 42-gun ship. At first it was called Great Christopher. Purchased by the English Royal Navy in 1569. Dismantled in 1608.

HMS Victory (1620)- 42-gun “big ship”. Launched at the Royal Dockyard at Deptford in 1620. Rebuilt as an 82-gun 2nd rank in 1666. Dismantled in 1691.

HMS Victory- 100-gun ship of rank 1. Launched in 1675 as Royal James, renamed 7 March 1691. Rebuilt in 1694-1695. Burnt down in February 1721.

HMS Victory (1737)- 100-gun ship of rank 1. Launched in 1737. Wrecked in 1744. Found in 2008.

HMS Victory (1764)- 8-gun schooner. Served in Canada, burned in 1768.

HMS Victory (1765)- 104-gun ship of 1st rank. Launched in 1765. Admiral Nelson's flagship during the Battle of Trafalgar.

This ship in art

In memory of the victory at Trafalgar and the remarkable naval commander, Trafalgar Square was created in the center of London, on which a monument to Nelson was erected. During the Battle of Trafalgar, a cannonball knocked down the mizzen mast, two other masts were knocked out of their steps, and most of the yards were damaged. The ship was sent for repairs, during which the most serious damage was eliminated.

After renovation HMS Victory took part in several operations in the Baltic and ended his military career as a transport in 1811. On December 18, 1812, the ship was excluded from the lists of the British Navy, and, according to the Admiralty inspector, HMS Victory was in “dry and good condition,” and the ship was already 53 years old! Soon after its decommissioning, the British began to treat it as a monument ship, and no one dared to destroy it.

In 1815, the ship was put in for major repairs. The hull and other equipment were carefully inspected, repairs were carried out, the figurehead was again replaced, and the hull was repainted again (wide white stripes were drawn in the area of ​​the gun ports). After repairs, the ship remained in the port of Gosport, near Portsmouth, for a hundred years. From 1824 to HMS Victory a gala dinner was held annually in memory of the Battle of Trafalgar and Admiral Nelson, and in 1847 HMS Victory was declared the permanent flagship of the commander of the Home Fleet of England, that is, the fleet directly responsible for the inviolability of British territory. However, the veteran ship was not looked after as well as it should have been. The hull gradually collapsed, its bend in the bow reached almost 500 mm, and by the beginning of the 20th century the hull was in very poor condition.

There were rumors that the ship needed to be sunk, and, most likely, this would have happened if Admiral D. Sturdy and Professor J. Callender, the author of a number of famous books about Admiral Nelson and his remarkable ship, had not come to the defense of the famous ship. Thanks to their active intervention, fundraising began in England under the motto “Save HMS Victory". It is characteristic that the Admiralty limited itself to providing a dry dock for restoration work, which was carried out in 1922. Interestingly, the restorers considered it possible not to replace half of the logs and boards from which the ship was once built, but to limit themselves to impregnating them with a special solution, protecting the tree from destruction.

During the Second World War, when German planes made frequent raids on England, a 250-kilogram bomb fell between the wall of the dock and the side of the ship. A hole with a diameter of 4.5 m appeared in the hull. Specialists responsible for the preservation of the historical ship discovered that with the appearance of this hole, the ventilation of the interior spaces has noticeably improved.

After the Second World War, the ship was renovated. To ensure water resistance, about 25 km of joints were caulked, the spars and rigging were updated, and the hull was repaired using English oak and Burmese teak. To reduce the load on the old hull, the guns were removed from the ship, and now all the ship's guns stand on the shore, surrounding the dry dock in which it stands HMS Victory.

The struggle for the life of the monument ship does not stop. Its worst enemies are wood-boring beetles and dry rot. This is one of the most common weaknesses in using wood. Suddenly, another danger was discovered: the guys, with the help of which the masts, stays and shrouds are secured, become tense in rainy weather, and sag in dry weather, which could eventually lead to the destruction of the masts. In 1963, it was necessary to spend 10 thousand pounds sterling to replace the guy wires with cables made of Italian hemp.

HMS Victory has been permanently moored in the oldest naval dock in Portsmouth since January 12, 1922, it is one of the most popular museums in England. On some days, the ship is visited by up to 2 thousand people, and every year 300-400 thousand people come here. All proceeds from visitors to this unusual museum go towards maintaining the ship.

see also

Literature and sources of information

1. Grebenshchikova G. A. Battleships of the 1st rank “Victory” 1765, “Royal Sovereign” 1786. - St. Petersburg: “Ostrov”, 2010. - 176 p. - 300 copies.
2. John McKay The 100-gun ship Victory. - London: Conway Maritime Press, 2002.

Ever since man learned to travel by sea, maritime states began to seek wealth and power beyond their territories. By the 18th century, Spain, Portugal, France, Holland, and Britain had established vast colonial empires.

Ships built from wood and linen began to make trade voyages along the sea routes between the colonies and home. During the era of the sailing fleet, imperial ambitions were realized in dramatic battles at sea. Warships, equipped with several decks on which deadly guns were installed, became the most powerful weapons of their time. Three-decker warships were used - battleships, which carried up to 74 guns on board, approached the enemy as close as possible and fired a salvo. The wooden ship, breaking into splinters, undermined the morale of its crew, thus dealing the main blow to the enemy. These were the tactics of naval battles of that era.

Whoever dominated the oceans ruled the world. For almost two centuries, Britain was such a country. The first truly military fleet consisted of full-fledged battleships becoming the result of the activities of the ambitious King Henry VIII. At that time, naval battles were fought exclusively between merchant ships on which guns were installed. His warships were built exclusively for military purposes. This was a real revolution at the time. The prototype of the battleship was " Mary Rose».

Over the next two hundred years, in constant conflicts between warring empires, the ships that took part in naval battles turned into real battleships, striking in their splendor. Large sailing ship" Victory"with three gun decks was a classic battleship. He could be on the open sea at any time of the year and in any corner of the globe.

« Victory"was launched in 1765. Its construction took six years and an entire oak forest consisting of 2,500 trees. Battleship was twice as long" Mary Rose"and was seven times superior in displacement. Sailing warship" Victory"represented a whole dynasty of sailing ships, which, as they improved, became weapons in themselves.

Sailing ship« Victory"is a floating gun platform. Fifty guns of different calibers, designed to deliver a crushing blow that will destroy a house in a matter of seconds. The power of the fire was incredible for that time. One broadside is 500 kg of metal. The team was very large from 850 to 950 people. It was incredibly difficult to operate in such conditions: the rooms were low, there were few ventilation holes through which smoke could escape. There is no way to hide from the enemy's return fire on the gun deck.

classic sailing battleship "Victory"

construction

illustrations depicting the classic battleship "Victory"

battleship "Victory"

battleship "Victory" in the roadstead

battleship "Victory" at sea

Battleship« Victory"in the events of the British Empire became a front-line position in the greatest naval battle in the history of the sailing fleet. In 1803, the battleship " Victory" when Horatio Nelson came aboard, she became the flagship. At that time, the British feared an invasion of their country across the English Channel. On October 9, 1805, Nelson invited his officers on board for dinner. battleship« Victory" He told them how to end once and for all the looming threat posed by the combined fleet of France and Spain. A determined and experienced sailor challenged the standard method of approaching the enemy in one line and fighting at close range. Instead, Nelson proposed forming in two columns and breaking through the enemy line, which would result in confusion. The tactic was risky. During the Battle of Trafalgar, both squadrons met at dawn on October 21, 1805. Battleships And frigates approached at a speed of two knots so that the sailors could have breakfast in peace and think about what was about to happen. IN Battle of Trafalgar Nelson's ships were superior to their opponents only in size and armament.

Battle of Trafalgar

During times sailing fleet naval warfare was more an art than a science. The battle was won by naval commanders like Nelson, not by ships. This tactic was also used due to the fact that the French and Spanish could not shoot in a straight line. Horatio Nelson's fleet of twenty-seven ships defeated the French-Spanish fleet of thirty-three in a few hours. battleships And frigates.

HMS Victory (1765) is a 104-gun ship of the line of the first rank of the Royal Navy of Great Britain. Laid down on July 23, 1759, launched on May 7, 1765. He took part in many naval battles, including the Battle of Trafalgar, during which Admiral Nelson was mortally wounded on board. After 1812, she did not take part in hostilities, and since January 12, 1922, she has been permanently moored in the oldest naval dock in Portsmouth. Currently, the ship has been restored to the condition in which it was during the Battle of Trafalgar and turned into a museum, which is one of the main attractions of Portsmouth.

Quite a long time ago, as a child, I collected Ognykov’s “Comrade” and “Eagle”. Assembled completely from the box, without painting. Then there was “Pourquois Pa”, I also assembled the version out of the box, but with coloring. And so, this fall I remembered my once forgotten hobby and decided to collect something. I chose the battleship HMS Victory from Zvezda. Although later, when I started assembling, I realized that the model was quite complicated for the first work after so many years, especially in terms of painting. But still he completed the work.

The ship took about 5 months to build. I painted it entirely with brushes, acrylic “Star” and a little “Tamiya”. Later I discovered that the “Star” paint adheres rather poorly to the surface and can be easily scratched with a fingernail. Because of this, the entire model was first covered with glossy and then matte Tamiya varnish from cans. The quality of the parts is quite mediocre, there is enough flash, a lot had to be “finished with a file”. I did not use primer or putty on this model.

I assembled it according to the instructions, there were minimal changes, except that I added a fence near the ladder from the lower deck. I did not use the paint scheme proposed by the star; I relied on photographs of the prototype taken in the summer of 2005. I didn’t like the plastic sails that came with the kit, so I didn’t install them at all. The rigging in the instructions is quite thin, so I decided to use the Mamoli drawings. The rigging was carried out as completely as the scale and my hands allow))). I did not use blocks. The details of the spar are quite thin, then I noticed that the topmast on the mizzen mast was slightly pulled to the side (maybe I’m wrong in the name).

There are enough stocks. For example, the paint lines are not always straight, because... I used masking tape, it does not fit well everywhere, and in these places the paint flows under it, I tried to fix it with a toothpick. Also, the painting of small parts was not quite even, for example on the stern gallery, although I painted it with a toothpick, it still didn’t turn out very smooth - I don’t have enough experience))). Also quite a large jamb, I don’t know whether it’s just parts in the kit, or I assembled it crookedly: I started trying on the back wall of the aft gallery, it turned out to be a little wider in width. I couldn't think of anything else to do except grind down the right side a little.

Scale: 1/180

In the end, the result is in front of you. Ready to catch stools)))