The Victory visitors see today, in 2023, is much more than two and a half centuries away from the original, built at Chatham and launched in 1765. Warships of that era were worked hard as Britain rose to her mastery of world oceans and trade, culminating unanswerably in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. That – anti-Empire grievance-mongers please note (as if they will!) benefited all sea- trading nations, whatever Britain’s dominance. But that meant that ships of the Royal Navy needed the kind of rebuild Victory is now getting, every 9 years or so. So not much of what you see of this great – and unique – ship’s external timbers dates back to her birth. Surveys show that what does – for example, the great frames – is in remarkably good, and strong, condition. And the stripping goes on…
HOW MANY REFITS?
21 April 2023
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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.