In the proud annals of the Royal Navy, no name is more evocative than HMS Victory. Launched in 1769, now in dry dock at Portsmouth Harbour, this ‘first rate ship of the line’ wrote itself regularly into the history books; most notably commanded by Nelson at Trafalgar, but also in numerous actions under many admirals’ flags.
So it’s all the more surprising that, according to a long-lost duty log of 1854, First Sea Lord Thomas Hardy advised his wife that he had ordered the famed vessel be scrapped. At this, the First Sea Lady burst into tears, sending her husband back to the office to rescind the instruction, thereby saving Victory for the nation – and your enjoyment only a few short miles from Lakeside.
