HMS Victory

HMS Victory is the only remaining 18th century ship of the line anywhere in the world. She remains the oldest serving warship still to be in commission - she retains her own Captain, officers and crew - and flies the flag of the Second Sea Lord, Commander in Chief Naval Home Command.

HMS Victory appears today in the form in which she fought her most famous battle, the Battle of Trafalgar (21st October 1805) at which Admiral Lord Nelson was shot by a French marine from the fighting top of the Redoutable. Although Victory underwent a major refit between the Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1797) and Trafalgar, her appearance today still gives an immense impression of the conditions aboard the flagship of Admiral Sir John Jervis on Tuesday 14th February 1797.

Victory - Facts and Figures

The Weather Deck

Hands aloft

Life on the lower decks

Action - the gun deck

The Admiral's cabin

The sickbay - health on board

Food and the Galley

The Heads

Raising the Anchor

HMS Victory - the stern galleries