HMS Victory – flagship of Lord Nelson, victor of the Battle of Trafalgar, icon of the Royal Navy – has a problem. She’s not where she ought to be – hasn’t been since 1922, the best part of a century. That was when she was dry-docked, after years spent out in Portsmouth harbour. And that’s where the trouble started. Because a ship is designed to be supported evenly by the water she displaces. Every part of her is designed for this. So, when she has to come ashore – and this is especially true of a wooden ship – she’s not where she belongs, and her weight distribution starts to tell on her. She sags and stretches. It takes a long time – in Victory’s case, many decades. But now she needs fixing, with a new system of props to support her.
Bring on the props
04 April 2016
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About Rob
Rob is a TV producer, reporter and camera operator with 30 years’ experience at the BBC, Channel 4 and ITN, in news, factual and documentary production. He is a four times award winner, whose awards include a coveted Royal Television Society award for his work on Channel 4 News. His association with The Maritime Foundation goes back to 1995, when he won the first Desmond Wettern Maritime Media Award for a series of reports that led to a major documentary on the loss of the bulk carrier Derbyshire.