Maritime History

HMS Victory

HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate wooden sailing ship of the line, best known for her role as Admiral Horatio Nelson's flagship during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. With 248 years of service as of 2026, she is the world's oldest naval vessel still in commission. She was ordered for the Royal Navy in 1758, during the Seven Years' War, and laid down in 1759. A series of British naval victories meant there was no urgency to complete the ship and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in February 1763 meant that when Victory was finally floated out in 1765, she was placed in ordinary. Victory was first commissioned in March 1778 during the American Revolutionary War, seeing action at the First Battle of Ushant in 1778, shortly after France had openly declared her support for Britain's rebel colonies in North America, and the Second Battle of Ushant in 1781. The following year, Victory took part in the relief of Gibraltar and the Battle of Cape Spartel before hostilities ended in 1783 and she was placed in ordinary once more. In 1787, Victory was ordered to be fitted for sea following a revolt in the Netherlands but the threat had subsided before the work had been completed. She was ready for the Nootka Crisis and Russian Armament in 1790 but both events were settled before she was called into action. During the French Revolutionary War, Victory served in the Mediterranean Fleet, co-operating in the occupation of Toulon in August and the Invasion of Corsica between February and August 1794. She was at the Battle of the Hyeres Islands in 1795 and the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797. When Admiral Nelson was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1803, he hoisted his flag aboard Victory and in 1805 took her into action at the Battle of Trafalgar. Victory served as a harbour ship from 1824 until 1922, when she was placed in dry dock at Portsmouth, England. Here she was repaired and is now maintained as a museum ship. From October 2012 Victory has been the flagship of the First Sea Lord.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Alexandria Governorate
• ▸Bhumibol Adulyadej
• ▸HMS Emulous (1806)

Uncatalogued shelf

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