What if in the German raids on Portsmouth HMS Victory catches a bomb? Would she be able to be repaired? If she could be, would she be and when? If she couldn't, would Britain admit it? Would she be rebuilt, and if so would it be during or after the war and how much of the original would they have to use to claim she was still Nelson's flagship?"
HMS Victory's last battle.
- Thread starter Peg Leg Pom
- Start date
How badly damaged are you thinking? A 250 kg bomb would be quite damaging to the wood, then the fires that follow...
Regardless, I doubt the Brits would admit it, because I doubt the Germans would be saying that they did it; it was most likely an accident. Rebuilt...well...maybe a private society? Money is a concern.
Regardless, I doubt the Brits would admit it, because I doubt the Germans would be saying that they did it; it was most likely an accident. Rebuilt...well...maybe a private society? Money is a concern.
SsgtC
Banned
While I'd like to think she'd be repaired, the RN had two other Ships of the Line during WWII, the Implacable and the Wellesley. The HMS Wellesley was hit by a German bomb and eventually sank due to her damage. And in 1949, the HMS Implacable was scuttled when the RN didn't want to spend the 200,000 pounds to fix her. This despite the vessel being a Trafalgar veteran herself (granted as a French ship, but she was there non the less). Having said all that, I'm forced to say that, while my heart says yes, the rest of me says no
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Surely the Royal Navy would find the time and money to rebuild Nelson's flagship, if not during the war then after, I am not familiar with how much the British public cares, but didn't they recently spend money to repair the HMS Victory. I am not British so perhaps someone here who is can tell me how much the general British public would want the HMS Victory restored.
Victory is a symbol, particularly at that time. She comes from a time Britain stood alone against a continental tyranny (as they saw it) threatened with invasion. The parallels between 1805 and 1940 are striking. The Navy will want her rebuilt, as would the public if asked. Given the times though I have my doubts. During the war the shipyards have better things to do. After the war the Labour government may well decide Victory's a symbol of the past and a class divided world they are committed to doing away with. Even if the public donates the funds there are many in Labour who would be willing and able to prevent the rebuild for ideological reasons, or just to find excuses to delay until it's too late.
Public opinion would have to be taken into consideration, would Labour risk the wrath of the voters if the majority wanted the HMS Victory restored. It is not a hill that I would die on as a politician.
I'm assuming if a low flying bomber clips the HMS Victories mast & subsequently crashes the ship receives credit? A kill is a kill is it not?
She's still a commissioned warship with a naval crew. If someone's banging away with a rifle or revolver it still counts, they could have hit the pilot.
As well as an ideologue trying to prevent a rebuild, I could also see a rebuild ordered to be ready for the Festival of Britain in 1951. To have her potentially seaworthy and being taken from port to port would catch the publics imagination, even if she's under tow and not sailing. This of course assumes that the skills still exist to rebuild a Georgian Ship of the Line properly.
As well as an ideologue trying to prevent a rebuild, I could also see a rebuild ordered to be ready for the Festival of Britain in 1951. To have her potentially seaworthy and being taken from port to port would catch the publics imagination, even if she's under tow and not sailing. This of course assumes that the skills still exist to rebuild a Georgian Ship of the Line properly.
That's what I'm thinking.
Think about it, you're talking a large, old, wooden ship from the 1800s, stationary, unarmed, taking a hit from either a crashing plane, or one or more stray high explosive bombs. There would more then likely be one heck of a fire as a result.
By the time all is said and done, there may physically be no or very little ship left to save or rebuild.
The USN finally got that right on the third try in two Centuries with the USS Constitution. Long and careful research and long discussions with modern sailing ship builders & restorers. The Hog Back defect was remedied with reinstallation of some seemingly redundant internal frame members, rigging was returned to something closer to its operational days, vs the latter 19th Century custom, ect... I do some restoration work on antique houses & have a sense of the sort of research and attitude it takes.
My remark was aimed at the He111 clipping the masthead & spinning off into the docklands or harbor.
Something more minor is of course probably easier to fix. I figure any damage would either be so minor as to not be a major issue, or there might not be a ship left in the end.
I watched them restore the Warrior and the earlier Trincomalee (1817) regaining long lost skills meant that it took much longer to restore them than it did to build them in the first place. I also don't doubt that the shipwrights who built them would find hundreds of things that haven't been done as they would think they should have been. I know one of the problems they had with the Warrior was that the plans called for her to be rigged in the usual manor. No one knew what that was. Something that was so well known it was never explicitly written down, and so forgotten. No one had built a steam frigate/battleship in 100 years.
IIRC HMS Victory did take some bomb damage in 1940/41, however I am away from my sources at the moment and cannot confirm the extent of the damage.
Night of 10-11 March 1941
''The first four transverse sections of her dock cradle were destroyed on the port side and also damaged sections on the starboard side. Half of the breast shores on the port side were also dislodged and around 18' of the concrete plinth supporting the keel was also damaged. The ship herself suffered a hole 8' long, by around 15' in height, torn in the hull planking and timbers. There was also damage to the orlop and lower gun deck''.