2009.08.11

2009.08

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2009.08.13

HMS Victory

2009.08.12

Some of the many guns to be seen on board HMS Victory

I took lots of pictures of ropes on board - I love the patterns and textures

About 80% of the wood on board has been replaced but these floorboards look pretty authentic to me!

More rope!

Part of the on board doctor's supplies to keep the crew healthy

There were lots of these rather splendid leather buckets on board - all displaying GR in honour of King George III who was on the throne when the ship was launched

The point where Admiral Lord Nelson fell - he died later that day, below decks. I suspect these floorboards are not the exact ones he fell on - they look a little too modern!

Kevin and I continued our tourist activities today, taking the train down to Portsmouth to visit the historic dockyard. In the end we only had time to visit HMS Victory and the Mary Rose but we’re going back tomorrow to see all the other museums there. I took quite a few photos during our tour of HMS Victory (photography of the Mary Rose isn’t permitted) and came away with this selection of shots which I was particularly pleased with. Light levels inside the ship are very low in places so capturing things hand held with slow shutter speeds was a real challenge at times. HMS Victory was completed in 1765 and served in the fleet for 34 years. However, her most famous outing was as the flagship of the fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar, the ship on which Admiral Lord Nelson was killed in 1805. She’s been in dry dock in Portsmouth since 1922 and has been heavily restored over the decades (although she’s not in sea-worthy condition). As we walked around the ship today I rapidly decided I would have made a very poor sailor – I found the cramped quarters below decks quite unsettling and even at only 5 feet, 7 inches tall I was too tall for comfort in most parts of the ship!