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HMS Victory Under Admiral Nelson

by johnk on 21. Apr, 2010 in Model Ship History

May 16, 1803 – Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, who was an English flag officer that gained fame during his service in the Royal Navy, raised his flag on the HMS Victory, and sailed with his flag captain Samuel Sutton to take control in the Mediterranean by May 20. Three days later Nelson assumed control of Amphion, a 32-gun fifth rate ship launched March 19, 1798.

Five more days later, Captain Sutton managed to take the 32-gun French ship, Embuscade, which was in route to Rochefort from San Domingo. After which the HMS Victory reunited with Nelson, where Captain Sutton then joined Nelson as captain of Amphion, changing places with Thomas Masterman Hardy.

On April 4, 1805, as the HMS Victory passed the island of Toro, the HMS Phoebe brought to the HMS Victory’s attention the presence of a French fleet commanded by Pierre-Charles Villenueve that had just escaped from Toulo (a city and large military harbor in Southern France). Nelson made route to Sicily to discover the French fleets intended destination. Nelson believed they were headed to Egypt, when in fact Villeneuve was entering Cádiz where a Spanish fleet awaited him. Nelson finally received wind of this on May 7 when he reached Gibraltar. By May 12, the British fleet had finished preparing their stores in Lagos Bay, Portugal, and with ten ships and three frigates, began to pursue the Franco-Spanish fleet of 17. Arriving in the West Indies they learned the enemy was in route to Boulogne to meet with Napoleon Bonaparte and his invasion forces.

The French and Spanish forces fought an indecisive battle on July 22 dubbed the Battle of Cape Finisterre, against Admiral Sir Robert Calder’s fleet. After, the French and Spanish hid out in Vigo and Ferrol where they could tend to their wounded personnel and damaged ships. On August 14 and 15 respectively, Calder and Nelson joined Admiral Cornwallis’s Channel Fleet off Ushant. Nelson made way to England in the HMS Victory while leaving his Mediterranean fleet under the watch of Cornwallis, who had ordered twenty of his thirty-three ships of the line to Calder to locate the Franco-Spanish fleet in refuge. When learning of the enemy’s change of location to Cádiz, Lord Nelson stealthily met with Lord Collingwood’s fleet at Cádiz to avoid detection.

The Battle of Trafalgar began on the morning of October 19, when Admiral Villeneuve sailed his ships toward the Mediterranean, but then changed direction north toward the British fleet. Nelson was already prepared for this battle, and planned to disable the enemy line two or three ships in front of their Commander in Chief, to keep their van from aiding them in time. This would ensure a quick victory for Nelson. However, the battle took place during strong winds that slowed the combat to a crawl. For some five hours after Nelson’s last order, the two columns of British ships slowly approached the French, when finally the British Royal Sovereign was able to open fire on the Fougueux. The HMS Victory then broke the line between Bucentaure and Redoutable twenty-five minutes later. The battle would prove tragic for Nelson, who was shot twenty-five minutes past one. The musket round went into his left shoulder and lodged into his spine. The courageous Admiral died half past four. In the end, the HMS Victory had lost fifty-seven persons, while one-hundred and two were wounded.

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HMS Victory – First Battle of Ushant

by johnk on 19. Apr, 2010 in Model Ship History

Admiral Keppel set out to sea from Spithead (an area of the Solent just off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England) on July 9th, 1778, with thirty other naval warships engaged in a tactic known as “line of battle”. Using this strategy, two columns of opposing warships would maneuver to position their greatest broadside weaponry against the enemy. The HMS Victory was among these ships of the line.

On July 23rd, Keppel spotted a French fleet of twenty-nine ships 100 miles west of Ushant. Louis Guillouet, comte d’Orvillers commanded the French fleet, and was under strict orders to avoid contact with the enemy. Despite attempts to do so, the French fleet was cut off from Brest (an important seaport and naval base located in north-western France), but still managed to attain an advantageous position against their attackers. Having such an advantage is also known as a “weather gage”, which refers to a ships position relative to another. Two of Louis Guillouet, come d’Orvillers’ ships managed to escape into port, bringing his fleets numbers down to twenty-seven.

The opposing fleets manoeuvred through cutting winds and pouring rain until a battle between the British and French took place, with the French fleet experiencing some sort of confusion. Despite their confusion the French cut through the British line with their state of the art vessels. The HMS Victory began firing on the Bretagne (a large 110 gun three decker First rate ship of the line), which was preceded by the Ville de Paris of 90 guns. Even with such heavy French fire power the British line took minor losses, though the rear division of Sir Hugh Palliser took considerable damage. Keppel ordered his hurt, but still standing fleet to pursue the French, but Palliser did not want to risk any more damage to his division, and the order did not follow through. The First Battle of Ushant therefore ended just as confused as it began. Consequently, Keppel was court-martialed and cleared of his charges, while Palliser faced heavy criticism which in turn became a long standing political argument.

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HMS Victory Overview / Introduction

by johnk on 08. Apr, 2010 in Model Ship History

HMS Victory Construction

The HMS Victory underwent construction in 1758, signalling a change from the Royal Navy’s previously smaller scale ships. The HMS Victory was designed to carry around 100 guns, and construction began in 1759. Named after “The Year of Victories”, the HMS Victory was commissioned in 1778 under Admiral Keppel’s flag.

HMS Victory Battles – First Battle of Ushant

The HMS Victory’s first major battle occurred at the Battle of Ushant on July 23, 1778 against an opposing French fleet. The French fleet did not intend to do battle, but the British force, including HMS Victory, cut them off from Brest and the begun. It was a confusing fight that ended with Admiral Keppel being court-martialed and Palliser being the brunt of unrelenting criticism.

HMS Victory Battles – Second Battle of Ushant

Now under the command of Captain Henry Cromwell, HMS Victory sailed with eleven other ships of the line in an attempt to intercept a French convoy. However, the convoy they were to intercept was protected by twenty-one ships of the line. Nevertheless, Admiral Kempenfelt still attacked, and used the North Atlantic’s strong winds to his advantage. The winds sent many of the French’s ships away, while Kempenfelt swooped in to capture the confused and fleeing ships.

HMS Victory Battles – Battle of Cape St. Vincent

In 1796, the HMS Victory was commanded by Captain Robert Calder and Captain George Grey, under the flag of Admiral Sir John Jervis. Horatio Nelson managed to pass undetected through thick fog to discover an enemy fleet. He passed the news on to the commanders of HMS Victory, who then sailed to intercept the fleet of unknown numbers. When the battle begun, John Jervis stood tall with his force of fifteen in the face of twenty-seven ships of the line. The British proved victorious, and the win was a huge boost to British morale.

HMS Victory Reconstruction

In February 1798 the HMS Victory was retired to Chatham and deemed unfit for warship service. However, once the HMS Impregnable was taken out of commission, the need for a new first rate warship opened up, and all eyes turned once again to the HMS Victory. Reconstruction started in 1800 and was completed three years late on April 11, 1803. A month later, HMS Victory was once again sailing, this time with Captain Samuel Sutton at the helm.

HMS Victory Under Admiral Nelson

Vice-Admiral Nelson hoisted his flag over the HMS Victory on May 16, 1803. Sutton commanded the HMS Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar, in which Nelson would lose his life to a sharpshooter. Despite this, Captain Sutton and the HMS Victory still managed to secure a huge victory over the French.

HMS Victory in the 19th Century

In the 19th century, the HMS Victory was passed from admiral to admiral, never finding a permanent home, until it was retired on November 7, 1812 to be used as a depot ship. In 1889, HMS Victory was turned into a Signal School, which it would remain to be until the 20th century.

HMS Victory in the 20th Century

After several years of inactivity, the HMS Victory began to deteriorate. In 1921, a Save the Victory fund was started to revitalize the HMS Victory. The British Government eventually got involved in the restoration process in order to honor Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar. The restoration was completed in 1928, and the occasion was commemorated by King George V.

Future Plans for the HMS Victory

Today the HMS Victory is the oldest commissioned warship left in existence. She is used as a museum ship, and brings in over a quarter million visitors per year. The future planned works on the HMS Victory will take place between April 2010 and April 2019, and is paid for by the UK Defense budget.

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