Battle of Trafalgar warship restoration project to begin

In 1759, carpenters used 8ft wide oak beams to construct Nelson's flagship, HMS Victoryin Chatham Docks. In 2011, oaks of such width are no longer to be found for a new generation of carpenters.

“You don’t find oak of that size any more anywhere,“ said John O’Sullivan, who is leading the five-year £16 million (€19 million) restoration of the famous ship in Portsmouth Docks, “so carpenters will glue sections of oak together to make laminates”. Over the next five years, rotten timbers throughout will be removed and replaced with hard-carved oak, or teak, while a fire-control system will be installed out of view below decks – all without disturbing the tens of thousands who visit the ship every year.

The contract to refurbish and maintain the Victory – still the oldest commissioned naval ship in the world – has been awarded to BAE Systems, under the charge of Mr O’Sullivan, whose grandfather came from Sneem, Co Kerry.

The upper-masts, which are now made of steel disguised as timber, and rigging were removed in June, though the lower masts, made from wrought-iron, are still in place and remain so for the duration of the restoration.

“Everything needs a good overhaul. We made the decision to do it all together, so it is a very complex job,” he said. “It took a month alone to carry out the risk-assessment, for example.” The project is described as the most extensive carried out on the Victory, which was Nelson’s flagship during the Battle of Trafalgar and the one that brought his body home to England, since the iconic 1805 naval battle.

The first timber of Victory was laid down at Chatham Docks in 1759 and launched six years later and named to commemorate a year dubbed the Annus Mirabilis, following triumphs against the French in Canada and at sea.

Vice Admiral Charles Montgomery, Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief of HMS Victory, said the restoration would ensure generations could “experience for themselves a warship that has an enduring and far reaching effect on national and international history”.