The figurehead of HMS Victory.
The side of the HMS Victory. In slightly better nick than it was late in the day in October 1805 after it lead the charge into the Battle of Trafalgar.Fully restored, you can go through the whole ship; plaques mark the spots where Nelson was shot and where he later died.
Also at the museum was the truly amazing HMS Warrior; built in 1860 and powered by steam and sail, it was the biggest war ship of its day and none of the guns of the day had the power to pierce its inner armour (4.5" steel and 18" of teak.).
And lets not forget the Mary Rose. It is still being treated with an aqueous wax solution and is in an enormous sealed room with liquid being sprayed on it constantly. You can look at it through a walkway of windows. The lighting makes it look like it is still underwater.
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We enjoyed looking at the replica of the'Bounty' in Sydney.
ReplyDeleteI like to think of folks all around the world watching your travels, with the familiar to some being unfamiliar to others, and vice versa... very unifying, somehow.
Had to laugh at the comment about your Ozzy accent! What did they expect, Crocodile dundee's.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics, only been on a tall ship a few months ago for the first time also.
So....is that the ship where they started transporting cattle?
ReplyDeleteYou know.... the time they first coined...
bull ship
(my dogs are groaning at me for saying this. my DOGS are groaning at me!)
so.... was there a sign?
"Warning: Ship may weigh anchor and all aboard will serve as mates"
No?
It's a great day out there, what? My very first effort at blogging was on this same subject.
ReplyDeleteLucky you to stand where a Nation's hero has stood.
ReplyDeleteAs for his final words, the two alternatives have been promulgated as “Kiss me, Hardy” or “Kismet, Hardy.” It is time to reveal that neither is correct.
What really happened is this: Nelson in his full Admiral’s Uniform, wearing the Laurels of his accomplishments, was identified by a marksman in the main top of the French Admiral Villeneuve’s flag ship. The marksman fired at Nelson from high above, and the bullet entered Nelson’s upper chest and angled down, severing his spine. Prognosis Negative.
Nelson was carried into the cockpit where the ship’s surgeon, assisted by his loblolly boys, did what he could for the dying Admiral.
Captain Hardy, the Captain of the VICTORY, came into the cockpit to tell Nelson of the victory, and it was then that Nelson spoke his last words.
“Kiss me, Hardy” and “Kismet, Hardy” were ‘laundered’ by the upper echelon of the Naval Hierarchy as being more appropriate for the last words of a national hero. However, the loblolly boys there present heard what he really said and passed the word on to the Man-of-War’s men in the lower decks of the VICTORY and it has been passed down, by word of mouth, among the common seamen ever since.
What he really said was:
“This is another fine mess you have got me into, Hardy!”