HMS Victory masts removed as part of £42m restoration project
She was Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar
The removal of the masts from Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory has been hailed as a “great success” in the latest step to conserve the historic vessel.
A 750-tonne crane was used to remove Victory’s mizzen (rear), foremast (front) and bowsprit (the bow).
The latest stage in the 10-year, £42 million restoration project involved the masts being removed and then safely lowered and laid near the ship’s side at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, ready for careful conservation work to begin.
The front mast from the 18th century warship was removed on Monday and another two days of detailed work was needed to move the mizzen and bowsprit.
On Saturday Patrizia Pierazzo, HMS Victory deputy project director, said: “The removal of the mizzen mast and bowsprit was a great success and lessons learnt from the foremast removal earlier in the week really helped the team.
“This was a precise operation that required input from a wide range of specialists, and we’re very pleased with the outcome.”
The main mast was removed in 2021.
A scaffolding structure will now enclose the ship and remain in place until the conservation work is completed in 2033.
HMS Victory, which is the world’s oldest commissioned warship, was Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar and it was on the ship’s quarterdeck that he was fatally shot by a French sniper on October 21 1805.
Victory was first floated out at Chatham in 1765 but by the 1920s was in poor condition and moved to dry dock in Portsmouth, in 1922.
Andrew Baines, executive director of museum operations for the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN), previously described it as “a key moment for The Big Repair project, being the first time Victory will have been without all her masts since the early 1890s”.
He said: “Our team has planned this step in meticulous detail but we still have to work around factors like the weather.
“That’s why we will carry out the lifts overnight, so we can work safely and without interruption for several hours at a time.”
Mr Baines added that once all the masts were removed and safely stored “we can begin the critical work of conserving them before their eventual return to the ship in 2033”.
Stuart Sheldon, NMRN lead rigger, described the lift as “complex” and needing “absolute precision”.
There is added focus because “HMS Victory matters to people in a way few objects do – that brings real pressure and it should”, he said.