To Thread - Forum Home

The Mudcat Café TM
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=114372
51 messages

BS: Lord Nelson's flagship

14 Sep 08 - 07:30 AM (#2439866)
Subject: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Scooby Doo

I read in the paper yesterday that the Navy is thinking about selling Lord Nelson's ship which is based in Portsmouth,UK.Its costing the navy to much money to keep it so the navy wants to sell it to a charity like the one the Mary Rose has or a wealthy business person.
What do you think?.

Scooby


14 Sep 08 - 01:08 PM (#2440071)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: bubblyrat

I think that they should offer it to France first, or possibly jointly to France & Spain.


14 Sep 08 - 01:10 PM (#2440074)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: GUEST,HMS Victory

The navy will not sell me.I earn them alot of coinage during a year.

HMS V ICTORY


14 Sep 08 - 01:18 PM (#2440079)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Scooby Doo

Is she able to go to sea if she is why dont they use her as a tall ship?.Just an idea.


Scooby


14 Sep 08 - 01:43 PM (#2440096)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Schantieman

That'd be nice, but sadly out of the question. She's been in dry dock for 40 years or more and is now made largely of fibreglass.

Steve
(currently about 1/4M from the VICTORY on Whale Island


14 Sep 08 - 01:46 PM (#2440101)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: kendall

I've posted three time to this thread and it won't appear!


14 Sep 08 - 01:48 PM (#2440105)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Scooby Doo

Thanks for that Shantieman,i did not realisehow she wasn't sea worthie.

Scooby


14 Sep 08 - 01:49 PM (#2440106)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Schantieman

Well - it did that time......but didn't tell us a great deal.....?

S


14 Sep 08 - 04:00 PM (#2440218)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Charley Noble

Selling HMS Victory to the highest bidder does provoke a range of curious outcomes, some of which exceed my capacity to describe in three dimensions:

HMS Victory à la Kentucky Fried Chicken

HMS Victory à la Rupert Murdock

HMS Victory à la Britney Spears

Sometimes a better alternative is to tow the old ship out to sea and sink it, to join her old sisters.

Charley Noble


14 Sep 08 - 04:04 PM (#2440223)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Little Hawk

Maybe O.J. Simpson could buy the Victory and turn it into a floating sports bar.....


14 Sep 08 - 04:18 PM (#2440230)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Schantieman

I can't imagine her anywhere but Portsmouth. That was her home port and it's where Nelson left in Sep 1805 to join her off Gibraltar. And it fits in with the WARRIOR and MARY ROSE and the RN Museum.

If the RN wouldn't keep her on I'm sure a trust somewhere - or a museum - would be set up. They have spent LOADS on renovating her and converting a gallery of the RN Museum into the VICTORY Gallery.....for the bicentenary of Trafalgar in 2005. AND it's the flagship of CINCNAVHOME.   And a BIG tourist attraction that earns a reasonable income.   AND the oldest commissioned ship in the WORLD.

Decommissioning her, still less sinking her, is UNTHINKABLE!

S


14 Sep 08 - 05:02 PM (#2440276)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Donuel

I have Lord Nelson's flagship scrimshawed on a whale tooth.

And the large Heller model I never built.

Privatize that boat?

It would make a great casino   ;< {

I think not.


14 Sep 08 - 05:09 PM (#2440280)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: kendall

Sell HMS Victory? Blasphemy!


14 Sep 08 - 05:40 PM (#2440318)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Charley Noble

Schantieman-

Selling her off is really an awful idea but maybe people need to envision that atrocity so they can work out a better solution.

Victory survived the bombing of Portsmouth Harbour in both World Wars 1 and 2. It would a pity if apathy sank her now.

Charley Noble


14 Sep 08 - 05:46 PM (#2440331)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Little Hawk

It's blasphemy all right. I was using dark humor with my suggestion about O.J. turning the great ship into a sports bar. I would suggest to all my British friends that they raise sheer bloody hell about this and make sure the Victory remains protected and preserved.


14 Sep 08 - 06:21 PM (#2440364)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Rumncoke

I hope some suitable solution can be found - but I'd rather see her burnt to ashes than turned into some theme park type exhibit.


14 Sep 08 - 06:45 PM (#2440376)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Greg B

Maybe the Irish will have her...


14 Sep 08 - 07:53 PM (#2440434)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: kendall

..for I'd rather beach her on the Skerry rocks
Haul away my laddie oh
Than to see her torched in the breaker's dock
Haul away my laddie oh... (The Final Trawl by Archie Fisher)


14 Sep 08 - 08:07 PM (#2440448)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Leadfingers

Well New Labour ditched Socialism in 1997 , so ditching an Icon of Briains Historic Past should be dead easy for them !


14 Sep 08 - 08:22 PM (#2440459)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Charley Noble

Well, England does have a tradition of hauling its old war relics out to sea, and sinking them. There's the case of the Implacable, ex-Duguay-Tourin in 1949, last survivor of the French fleet which fought at Trafalgar, sunk in deep waters to save the cost of further preservation. Evidently she didn't go down without a fight; she broke her tow-line and sank in her own good time.

Here's a link to a poem that C. Fox Smith composed in her honor: click here for poem

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


15 Sep 08 - 01:01 AM (#2440610)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: The Fooles Troupe

Ok - slight thread drift...
Old boat given new lease on life

but it's one of the oldest surviving craft in Australia.


15 Sep 08 - 03:12 AM (#2440630)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Richard Bridge

We're very good at destroying our history in the UK.

Darwin's ship rotted unnoticed.
Vandals torched the the Cutty Sark (although her restoration proceeds now)
The battle to save the Medway Queen (paddlewheel pleasure cruiser who went to Dunkirk) will I think be lost eventually.

And so on.


15 Sep 08 - 04:10 AM (#2440653)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Dave the Gnome

They have already done it once! I am sure they can do it again. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a poem about it to which my mate Ged has put some music see the words here.

Cheers

Dave


15 Sep 08 - 04:14 AM (#2440658)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Backwoodsman

"Privatize that boat"

Boat? BOAT? Blasphemy - she's a SHIP.


15 Sep 08 - 05:32 AM (#2440695)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: mandotim

Re Dave Polshaw (above); Tina Taylor (muppitz) has also set that poem to music on her album ;The Unabridged Version' see here
Tim


15 Sep 08 - 06:20 AM (#2440724)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: HuwG

The British armed forces have instituted arrangements in recent years whereby they lease hardware from the manufacturers rather than purchase it outright. This has been done with the army's Challenger 2 tanks, and the Royal Navy's OPV(H) patrol craft, for example.

I'm sure that there are all sorts of safeguards so that it is impossible for an overseas buyer to snap up a majority of shares in Firth Vickers and say to the army, "The next time you go to war in the Gulf, your armoured regiments go on foot."

Somebody might apply this arrangment so that some organisation such as Wetherspoon's could acquire the "Victory" and put it all over their publicity blurb, while restrictive covenants prevented them altering the structure of the ship, or changing its current use, or hanging unsightly advertising hoardings from the yards.


15 Sep 08 - 07:03 AM (#2440763)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Keith A of Hertford

Just in case, if you have never done so, book a weekend in Pompy.
Take the guided tour on Vitory, and also the submarine at the old Dolphin (Diesel and shale}, Mary Rose, Warrior, dockyard boat trip,
fortifications, Southsea memorial, and many etc..


15 Sep 08 - 07:17 AM (#2440774)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Keith A of Hertford

(HMS Dolphin has reverted to its original name, Fort Blockhouse.
I spent a night in there last year in a room with a harbour view.)


15 Sep 08 - 07:19 AM (#2440778)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Backwoodsman

And go up the Spinnaker Tower. Stoo-o-o-o-o-o-pendous views.
Followed by paella and a pint at The Stll & West. :-) :-)


15 Sep 08 - 10:20 AM (#2440956)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: EBarnacle

Aye, tear her battered ensign down,
Long has it waved on high...


15 Sep 08 - 03:08 PM (#2441244)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Scooby Doo

I was wondering that the Royal Navy realeased the news of there sell at the weekend so there be not so much publicity ie news reports,even so newspapers did report the sad news.
Do you think i am right?.



Scooby


15 Sep 08 - 04:29 PM (#2441365)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Schantieman

There's (unsuprisingly) a big article about it in The (Portsmouth) News
http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/Descendant-of-famous-flagship-captain.4490700.jp

Steve


15 Sep 08 - 04:44 PM (#2441377)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Scooby Doo

Thanks for the thread i have just read the item,it was very interesting.Just hope it won't be invane.


Scooby


15 Sep 08 - 06:14 PM (#2441488)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Raedwulf

"We're very good at destroying our history in the UK."

Be fair, Richard, we're also very good at preserving it. The trouble is, we have such a *lot* of it!

As to mostly fibreglass, I dunno about that, but it's a long, long time since she's been seaworthy. I can't believe anyone actually thought she might be. She is over 200 years old, bless 'er! ;-)


15 Sep 08 - 06:19 PM (#2441493)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Charley Noble

Steve-

Nice to know that one of Admiral Hardy's descendants has the right stuff.

I do find it hard to believe that the Royal Navy would sell the ship to any private entrepreneur or even non-profit organization. Whatever committee in the Admiralty is recommending such action should be publicly shamed.

Charley Noble


15 Sep 08 - 07:40 PM (#2441564)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Dead Horse

Change her name to "Defeat", THEN see if anyone'll buy her! :-)


15 Sep 08 - 09:45 PM (#2441633)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity

From: Richard Bridge
Date: 15 Sep 08 - 03:12 AM

We're very good at destroying our history in the UK.

Darwin's ship rotted unnoticed.

You mean it didn't evolve into a luxury yacht??!!??..Well, hot damn!...there's all the proof you need!


15 Sep 08 - 10:09 PM (#2441646)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Greg B

The USS Constitution is fully seaworthy (unlike the HMS Victory) and
in commission (like the HMS Victory). She's undergoing yet another
periodic restoration. There's no excuse for letting such treasures
go.

Perhaps they'll send 'Old Ironsides' to the Persian Gulf one
day.


16 Sep 08 - 12:28 AM (#2441765)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: EBarnacle

At least a Wooden Ship cannot set off magnetic mines.


16 Sep 08 - 02:56 AM (#2441809)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: nager

I have visited HMS Victory on at least three occasions - the last time about six years ago and the first time when I was a child. The ship is part of major martime history site in Portsmouth UK. The remains of the Mary Rose were there when I last visited plus the amazing HMS Warrior (1860). There is also a museum etc and it is a truly historic complex on the harbour as part of the Royal Navy dockyards. Importantly it has not been commercialised as I am sure it would if prvately owned. Everything is in "tip top " shape and the vessels and the relics are treated with true dignity. Let's keep it that way. A couple of retiring politicians pensions would probably be enough to finance any shortfall in revenue from people paying to visit the place.


16 Sep 08 - 10:45 AM (#2442040)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: bubblyrat

Well, we all get what we deserve eventually. The Labour Party have systematically tried to dismantle and destroy the Royal Navy since 1964-the dark days of Harold Wilson and Denis Healey.How on EARTH a card-carrying member of the British Communist Party EVER got to be our Defence Minister, I have never figured out, but he( Healey) had a wonderful time cancelling numerous defence projects,scrapping aircraft-carriers and generally doing just what the Soviets wanted !! And Yes!! The Labour Party are STILL DOING IT !! And people out there, at every election since, are STILL voting for them. It's beyond reason and comprehension. So perhaps it would be best,after all, if HMS Victory WERE to quietly fade away, like the once-proud navy it so proudly symbolised has.


16 Sep 08 - 11:30 AM (#2442082)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Richard Bridge

And if you recollect, bubblyrat, the Soviet Union did not invade us after all, so he was right, wasn't he?

If you compare the actual harm done to country and society by authotritarian lunatics lke Thatcher to that done by all Labour governments put together you should, if you were not too blind and bigoted to see, appreciate that the only way forward to a civilised society is well to the left of any party we have in parliament at the moment.


16 Sep 08 - 12:28 PM (#2442162)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Teribus

If memory serves me correctly it's the guns on HMS Victory that are glass-fibre. In a pub tucked out of the way in wilds of Wiltshire I once had a chat with the man responsible for searching out trees and reserving them for repairs to HMS Victory. When the conversation got to golf (Ryder Cup) he asked what club I was a member of, when I told him and he held up a finger and said, "Ahh", as he dived into his little book. After turning up what he was looking for he told me, "You've got five mature oak trees down the length of the thirteenth fairway. They must be a complete and utter nuisance but you can't do anything about them, they have all been reserved for Victory since the early 1930's and according to my book they're still there."


16 Sep 08 - 01:33 PM (#2442232)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Schantieman

Laugh out Loud!
(so good it was worth typing it out in full)

Well, that IS good to know!

And PLEASE can we avoid the political thread creep I've just noticed above?   Otherwise I shall be forced to De-Trace this thread.

S


16 Sep 08 - 01:34 PM (#2442235)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Scooby Doo

What an interesting tale Teribus.They will not get used now will they.


Scooby


16 Sep 08 - 01:52 PM (#2442257)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Schantieman

I bloody well hope they will be!!!


16 Sep 08 - 03:28 PM (#2442353)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Scooby Doo

Well what can we do to save HMS Victory from decommission.

Scooby.


16 Sep 08 - 07:56 PM (#2442613)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Charley Noble

Scooby-

Good question, and there are even a few fans of HMS Victory on this side of the great pond who would chip in. And, yes, I paid a visit to this great ship about eight years ago, serenaded her with my concertina.

I was favorably impressed with everything except the cafeteria. I still have my commemorative hard tack from that visit.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


16 Sep 08 - 09:28 PM (#2442655)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Rumncoke

I love walkiing around the historic places in Portsmouth and Southsea.

Being 5ft 4 inches tall and wearing flat shoes, I can walk through the doorways etc without having to duck. True I can feel my hair touching, but it drives the guides into fits.

I used to be exactly average height, but somewhere along the way I became a little old lady.

Anne


17 Sep 08 - 07:27 AM (#2442923)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Teribus

While waiting for a course when I was in the navy I was sent to Victory Barracks in Portsmouth and for two months I was a VIP guide on HMS Victory, in all that time I only every showed one VIP round - Britt Ekland who was down in Portsmouth to officiate at HMS Vernon's Open Day.


17 Sep 08 - 01:35 PM (#2443228)
Subject: RE: BS: Lord Nelson's flagship
From: Schantieman

Rumncoke:

knock knock