HMS Victory
The Society’s outstanding conservation achievement was the saving of Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory. More than two hundred years after she was commissioned, HMS Victory is still manned by the Royal Navy as a warship and the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command. As a museum, the Victory is open to the public throughout the year. Find out more from the HMS Victory website.
Save the Victory Fund
Since its foundation, one of the Society's objects was to save the Victory for the nation. In 1921, the Admiralty agreed to put her into dry-dock and the following year, the SNR launched the Save the Victory Fund to raise money to restore her as near as possible to her Trafalgar state. The Society continues to administer the Fund and in the past 15 years has provided about £1 million for her maintenance, artefacts and interpretation.
Preservation and restoration
The Society oversees the preservation and restoration of HMS Victory at her berth in Portsmouth. It spends some £60,000 a year buying timber and rigging, paying for the restoration of items like the fore-topsail worn by Victory at Trafalgar, and contributing to the salary of the Education Officer. The SNR is represented on the Victory Advisory Technical Committee which provides expert advice on restoring and maintaining the ship.
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| To help establish the historical authenticity of routine work on board HMS Victory, the VATC inspect constructional details of 18C ship models at the National Maritime Museum store at Kidbrooke. L to R: Brian Lavery; Lt Cdr John Scivier, Captain, HMS Victory; Jonathan Coad (Chairman VATC); Lawrie Phillips. |
Trafalgar Day
The Royal Navy recognises the Society's role in saving HMS Victory by inviting a Society representative to attend the annual Trafalgar Day ceremony on board the flagship at Portsmouth.
Annual visit to HMS Victory
The highlight of the Society's year is the visit in June to Portsmouth at the time of its annual general meeting. After the AGM, members and their guests tour the ship and then have dinner on the lower gun deck.
