H. M. S. VICTORY

100 Guns

Victory was ordered in 1758, the year Nelson was born. At the time this was the largest ship ever to have been built for the Royal Navy. The keel was laid in 1759 at the Royal Dockyard in Chatham and Victory was launched in 1765.Everything about Victory is massive, the hull is of English oak and is over two feet thick and 2000 oaks were felled for the construction. Victory is 227 feet long and has a beam of 52 feet. There are 27 miles of standing and running rigging and 4 acres of canvas sails. Rated as a 100 gun ship the armament actually consisted of 104 guns and a full crew was 850 men.