~ HMS Victory – The Iconic Ship That Refused To Die! ~
Ok, we all know about HMS Victory, Nelson and the battle of Trafalgar. Absoultely humbling and history basics.
But here is what HMS Victory went through post Trafalgar.
1) In late April 1854, HMS Victory sprang a leak and sank. All on board were rescued and the ship was subsequently raised.
2) In 1887 she sprang a catastrophic leak and it was only with some difficulty that she was prevented from sinking at her mooring.
3) The aged battlship HMS Neptune was under tow from the tug Rowland on 23rd October 1903 and another assisting when the cables connecting her broke in a storm, the winds and strong incoming tide pushed the ship back into the harbour itself. It missed the training tender HMS Racer, it then struck a training brig Sunflower which was anchored beside Racer.
It then struck Victory on the Port side on the Orlop Deck with its bow ram, the damage from this blow was repaired soon after. The tides and winds pulled Neptune out of Victory and then finally resting against HMS Hero on her bow ram. It was later successfully towed out and scrapped in Germany.
This incident and Victory’s deterioration while at anchor helped push for calls for her preservation, Frank H. Mason published The Book of British Ships in 1911, calling Victory’s condition was described as “..nothing short of an insult”.
Ironically after the Battle of Trafalgar a ship named HMS Neptune towed Victory to Gibraltar in the aftermath of the battle. Pic attached.
4) HMS Victory sustained further damage when a 500 lb. bomb dropped by the Luftwaffe broke her keel.