H.M.S. Victory Launched

The H. M. S. Victory is the only surviving ship of the line from the 18th century. The H. M. S. Victory is also the oldest warship still in active use (though she is not in the water, she does have a full crew, captain, and presently serves as an Admiral's flagship.)

This stupendous warship is 227 feet in length overall, and reaches 220 feet above sea level at the masthead. She is 21 feet submerged at the waterline. The ship carries over 27 miles of line in her rigging, and can develop thrust with four acres of sail. Over 2,000 Oak trees (over 60 acres) were felled to provide the timber to build her. She took about six years to build, at a cost of about thirty to forty million US dollars (in today's figures.)

She was launched May 7th in 1765, and remains completely sea-worthy to this day (May 28th, 2000) - she spent some one hundred and fifty eight continuous years afloat until being placed in permanent dry dock in 1922 at the urging of the Society for Nautical Research.

She has served variously as warship of the line, flagship, hospital ship, and a depot ship. Many years were spent on "reserve" status.

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