H.M.S. Victory

HMS Victory in Portsmouth, 1900
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Victory
Ordered:	14 July 1758
Builder:	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down:	23 July 1759
Launched:	7 May 1765
Commissioned:	1778
Homeport:	Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, England 50°48′07″N 1°06′35″W / 50.80194°N 1.10972°W / 50.80194; -1.10972Coordinates: 50°48′07″N 1°06′35″W / 50.80194°N 1.10972°W / 50.80194; -1.10972
Honours and awards:	Participated in: First Battle of Ushant (1778) Second Battle of Ushant (1781) Battle of Cape Spartel (1782) Battle of Cape St Vincent (1797) Battle of Trafalgar (1805)
Status:	Active Flagship of the First Sea Lord and museum ship
General characteristics
Class and type:	104-gun first-rate ship of the line
Displacement:	3,500 tons
Tons burthen:	2,142 tons bm
Length:	186 ft (57 m) (gundeck), 227 ft 6 in (69.34 m) (overall)
Beam:	51 ft 10 in (15.80 m)
Draught:	28 ft 9 in (8.76 m)
Depth of hold:	21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
Propulsion:	Sails—6,510 sq yd (5,440 m²)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Speed:	up to 11 knots (20 km/h) maximum
Complement:	Approximately 850
Armament:	Trafalgar: Gundeck: 30 × 2.75 ton long pattern Blomefield 32 pounders (15 kg) Middle gundeck: 28 × 2.5 ton long 24 pounders (11 kg) Upper gundeck: 30 × 1.7 ton short 12 pounders (5 kg) Quarterdeck: 12 × 1.7 ton short 12 pounder (5 kg) Forecastle: 2 × medium 12 pounder (5 kg), 2 × 68 pounder (31 kg) carronade Marines armed with muskets
Armour:	None, although oak hull thickness at waterline 2 ft (0.6 m)
Notes:	Height from waterline to top of mainmast: 205 ft (62.5 m)

HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, ordered in 1758, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is best known for her role as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

She additionally served as Keppel's flagship at Ushant, Howe's flagship at Cape Spartel and Jervis's flagship at Cape St Vincent. After 1824, she was relegated to the role of harbour ship.

In 1922, she was moved to a dry dock at Portsmouth, England, and preserved as a museum ship. She has been the flagship of the First Sea Lord since October 2012 and is the world's oldest naval ship still in commission.

In December 1758, Pitt the Elder, in his role as head of the British government, placed an order for the building of 12 ships, including a first-rate ship that would become HMS Victory. During the 18th century, Victory was one of ten first-rate ships to be constructed. The outline plans were based on HMS Royal George which had been launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1756, and the naval architect chosen to design the ship was Sir Thomas Slade who, at the time, was the appointed Surveyor of the Navy. She was designed to carry at least 100 guns. The commissioner of Chatham Dockyard was instructed to prepare a dry dock for the construction. The keel was laid on 23 July 1759 in the Old Single Dock (since renamed No. 2 Dock and now Victory Dock), and a name, Victory, was chosen in October 1760. In 1759, the Seven Years' War was going well for Britain; land victories had been won at Quebec and Minden and naval battles had been won at Lagos and Quiberon Bay. It was the Annus Mirabilis, or Year of Miracles (or Wonders), and the ship's name may have been chosen to commemorate the victories or it may have been chosen simply because out of the seven names shortlisted, Victory was the only one not in use. There were some doubts whether this was a suitable name since the previous first-rate Victory had been lost with all on board in 1744.