HMS Victory: Total Guide Part 1

I hope you enjoy the video, and thanks to the National Museum of the Royal Navy for all their help. Find out about visiting HMS Victory at www.historicdockyard.co.uk. Thanks also to our sponsor Fabulous - start building your ideal daily routine! The first 500 people to use our link get 25% OFF Fabulous Premium: www.thefab.co/epichistorytv. We'll have Part 2 of this series in a few weeks, in which we cover various aspects of sailing, fighting and living aboard a Napoleonic ship-of-the-line.

In 1991 I was USAF reserve in England during the Gulf war. I stood on the decks of the Victory. When I stood on the deck where Nelson was shot and the deck below where he died I knew I'd experienced a profound sense of history.

Outstanding. One of the finest presentations of its kind that I've ever seen. The detail, animation and narration were all superior. A fascinating look into another world.

I toured the Victory years ago, and it was magnificent! I so clearly remember standing at the site of Nelson's death, and being completely choked up. And I'm American! The history of this ship and her crew is simply awe inspiring. And the Historical Dockyard itself is amazing as well!

This was astounding. The perfect complement to a tour of HMS Victory, and in its own way, as good as being there!

Having read, re-read and re-read all of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels, I have developed a keen interest in these ships. This video has brought one of the best alive! Thanks!

This is honestly incredible. Literally half an hour of epic history tv is equal to a whole term of history at school

Please keep these coming. You’re teaching kids parts of history that aren’t taught in most schools.

What a truly magnificent machine! To think this is what men could build and sail in the 1700's. Mind blowing. Very impressed.

I was born in Portsmouth and toured the Victory several times as a kid. This is the first picture I've seen of it running downwind, with all sails hoisted. Amazing!

The quality of this production is as good as I’ve ever seen in this genre. As for the subject itself, I’m stunned at the level of design sophistication and engineering. What an amazing vessel!

If you'd ever do one for a relatively modern royal navy ship, I would love to see the HMS Warspite from the world wars. There isn't enough love around the platforms for her.

I can appreciate the amount of effort put into historic accuracy. Not only showing terms I already know from years of seamanship but also terms I’d never heard before from the days of old. A first rate documentary for a first rate ship of the line!

The house I live in was build by Commander Richard Clark who was a Midshipman on HMS victory in 1782 shortly before becoming a Lt. During his long RN career on many ships he was captured and imprisoned twice by the French in sea battles and later served in the defensibles in South Devon where he built the house. He later retired to Cornwall and died at the ripe old age of 82. Amazing life!

I've lived in Portsmouth for 63 of my 65 years. Only been on the Victory once for my Auntie's retirement party. I've just learnt more in 28 mins than a lifetime living within a short distance of this great ship.

I absolutely LOVED this doc on HMS Victory. As a life-long sailor, and fan of Lord Nelson I fulfilled a dream by touring Victory. Still, this video taught me how much I missed while doing the self guided tour! Kudos! 🇨🇦

Masterful... Epic History TV should be the example of how to do literally everything... so well organized and executed. Looking forward to the next episode!

What a beautiful and majestic ship. Those were true ships, ones with sails and made of wood. They facinate me . i would love to go on a journey upon one. What an experience that would be. The HMS Victory is more than a mere sailing ship , it is a work of art, a masterpiece. I love it !

I went to Portsmouth just to see this beauty, I also saw HMS Warrior, but Victory truly takes you breath away. How could people even build something like this without modern technology just humbles me.
HMS Queen Elizabeth was there too that day, so I actually got the chance to admire her from Atop Victory.

Thank you to everyone for this really excellent video about the most famous ship in the world. It has confirmed my wish to go to see her yet again. Charles Nove's commentary is clear, concise and informative.

Great documentary with great graphics. I travelled halfway around the world to step aboard and explore HMS Victory and still treasure the memory of it.

Thank you so much for this, the most detailed description I have ever seen of HMS Victory.
Fabulous ship and amazing work to preserve her over the decades, a real example of a fighting ship of the line and also sad that she is the only one left, as I understand that another ship of the same timeline was sunk deliberately as unwanted not so very many decades ago.

A nice little touch in the animation is the Admiral's Flag. It flies from the fore topgallant, meaning the ship is commanded by a Vice-Admiral. In this case, a Vice-Admiral of the White, which is the rank held by Admiral Nelson at Trafalgar. Technically it should have a small red circle in the corner, but it's hard to tell if it does in the animation.
Either way, as someone that spends a lot of time researching the Royal Navy of the 17th through early 20th century, I shall probably recommend this video to people looking for informative answers without having to watch a dozen Drachinifel videos, or read way too many books and look at way too many old photographs. Incredibly well done video.

In this modern day it's amazing to know that they made such massive ships with the use of intricate yet limited machines, and then went on to arm them with enough cannon to rival a small land fortress. I would give almost everything to see her and ships like her sail in formation imagine seeing them in their hay day, sails billowing, flags streaming, decks buzzing with activity.

"Britain master of the sea; Napolean, unbeatable on land. The whale and the elephant, neither able to challenge the other on its own domain."

A great piece of telling history without embellishments, well done to all the team 10/10,

This is incredible. One of my first - and happiest - memories are my visits to Portsmouth naval dockyard as a very young child with my mum. I never imagined just how techinical this ship's design was. Magnificent ship and magnificent video

Absolutely top drawer production! One of the vert best in terms of accuracy, commentary, solid research and visual presentation.
Thank you!

Epic History is a first rate ship of the line amongst all the history streams. Brilliant.

An amazing ship and I once saw her in her permanent dock. I was shocked how small such a grand ship was. It had been much bigger in my prior imagination. I used to work with an ex sailor, Bob Mellor, who served on her, in her dock, very briefly during the second world war. He said it made all sorts of creaks and groans in the night whilst he was trying to sleep at night.

Wow, as a retired US sailor, history lover, and naval history enthusiast this is one of the best documentary videos I have seen on KRclip. This is one when it ended I was sorry it was over.

This is great stuff. As a kid I remember building an airfix model of this ship. Once painted it looked pretty good. The complexity of the real thing is impressive.

What an excellent presentation. I have visited HMS Victory at Portsmouth many times, but this video sets everything out very efficiently. Nelson would be proud!

I REALLY loved this video. Honestly, it ticked absolutely every box I could ever hope to want to know about, except for one...
I would really have liked to know more about the sailing characteristics of HMS Victory. I mean, it's a square-rigged vessel with 3 masts, so I presume that its best point of sail is somewhere between running before the wind and a beam reach. Maybe a broad-beam reach?
I guess it's not terribly important...

A beautiful presentation, using correct terms etc. with accurate detail of the ship, from hull structure to the rigging.
Maybe the best documentary I ever watched relating to the wonderful era.

Absolutely brilliant video. Really well done, it transported me to a different era. It has made me start to appreciate the sophisticated design and organisation that was required to run one of these major battle ships. I will have to watch it several times, just to start to absorb the information. I am fascinated, why it was the European nations that dominated the world and not other cultures (Chinese, African, Asian, North or South American etc cultures). I am sure it was to do with their ability to travel by sea and control of the oceans, their sea power. The evolution driven by the fierce competition between European nations to dominate each others trade.
I have subscribed to follow your channel. This is exactly the type of video I am after, fact based to help me understand history that has shaped the world we live in today. Thank you.

The HMS victory looks so fearsome and intimidating with all of its sails out at 10:33. The fact that the total area of the sails were the size of a football pitch astonishes me.

This has to be the most succinct, well written and presented information on the 'Golden Age of Sail' and a RN Ship of that Era, let alone a fantastic look at HMS Victory. This could easily be a primer for anyone interested in learning.
Absolutely well done.

I always wondered how ships like this in the age of sails worked. Thank you so much for this wonderful presentation! 😁 If I ever go on a trip to Britain I'll definitely try to visit this beautiful ship!

I had the pleasure of visiting HMS Victory in 1998 when I joined the Royal Navy I also visited the submarine museum and HMS Alliance they both left me awe inspired.

Wonderful ship. Absolutely love the graphics of her at full sail with the extra sails hung.

Completely grateful that we can enjoy this. An absolute masterpiece from this channel, top quality content. Thank you so much

This is really fantastic. The level of detail, the art, and animations, the narration. We're so lucky to have access to such high-quality documentaries, thank you for making this.

Quite simply, the finest documentary on HMS Victory ever made! I LOVE the attention paid to the technical details! Very impressive! I’m excited for Part 2! 🖖😀

amazing work! I was looking for a video like this for years now. cant wait for part 2. thank you very much to everyone involved.

Visiting the Historic Dockyard Portsmouth this weekend. This production has added to my interest as I walk in the steps of history. Looking forward to part 2 covering these extraordinary men that served in conditions we can’t comprehend. Tough men indeed.

This is probably the best naval video on KRclip! A virtual wealth of information! Very much appreciated and well done! Bravo!

I really the amount of effort and safety precautions were put into building this ship. Seeing so many rooms, each with its own specific purpose is awesome. Id love to visit the HMS victory museum at some point.

These are the type of videos that make you sit down, grab a snack, and enjoy like your watching a new episode of your favorite TV show. Great quality as always guys!

Another amazing video with great detail and historical accuracy. It's great to see the history of our world and be reminded of what it took to get to modern times.

This brought back some memories. Way back in the late 60s in my final year at school, I did a project on the life of Admiral Lord Nelson - which involved a lot of enjoyable research. Of course HMS Victory played a big part in my project and ever since I have had a soft spot for that great ship. My first visit to it was in 1966 and I have been on it 3 times since. This video brings it to life again. It is another experience to be given a tour, with all the detail, without having to walk up and down the various decks.

I don't know why...but this kind of stuff just peaks my interest.....and it would be awesome to have a series of videos just as meticulous as this for other military vehicles or even the blueprint of military forts, bases, or campsites from the Revolution up to the present. It covers things you don't normally think about as far as the guts or inner workings but it's a fascinating rabbit hole for history buffs like me.

I absolutely love this! Amazing video guides on the HMS Victory. Keep up the great work!

I’ve learned so much since I’ve found this channel, appreciate the effort and time put in to these. Thank you.

I toured HMS Victory in 1995 on a US Navy port visit. . The crew assigned as tour guides were very knowledgeable about the ship and all the little details of items aboard the ship. I got to visit with them after tours were over for the day at thier private pub. We traded information on our navies history and traditions. Will not forget the moment.

I served on HMS Victory in 1989/90 as a tour guide, one of my ships I served on in my career in the Royal Navy (15 Years) - Had a blast...

Amazing to see the workings and history of such a legendary ship.Hope to see more naval videos,thank you.

I Spent almost 50 years in aviation flying F-86, Mirage111,Phantom F4E, General Dynamics F 111C and some 24 years on all variants of the Boeing 747 as well as a host of General Aviation aircraft in Charter Ops. I can say my fondest memory ever was a personally guided tour of the Victory in dry Dock Portsmouth. A magnificent machine and almost impossible to comprehend life aboard in battle: All the crew were heroes. Thanks for a First Rate Video. Hope to return to Victory again one day.

This is the kind of detail that TV documentaries never had the guts to go into.
Absolutely brilliant and beautiful work.

I went and saw HMS Victory last year. The ship is absolutely amazing in person. I would recommend listening to the handheld audio guide, which tells the story of Battle of Trafalgar.

I thought I understood the power of the RN and the significance of Trafalgar.
But that one line was astonishing. "One broadside from Victory packs more iron than all Wellington's guns at Waterloo. I had to rewind to be sure I heard it right.
There's a reason that Nelson's is the only statue that looks Parliament straight in the eye.

My last job in the Navy in 2008 was bosuns mate on board Victory. Spent 6 months on there doing both day and night watches. At night I was the only one awake on board having to do hourly rounds. I can honestly say it was the most surreal and awe-inspiring draft I had in the time I spent in the navy. Walking round alone on board at 3am was both enthralling and terrifying. I was lucky enough to walk and sit amongst history... from the orlop deck to Nelsons grand cabin. It inspired be to read history at University when I left the RN and become a teacher. Truly blessed to have had such an amazing job.

I’ve always had an interest in warships from the age of sail - very much a novice in my studies. I like the way you take the time in this video to explain things. A lot of the stuff I’ve read didn’t go into detail on technical issues - just mentioned things perhaps assuming that the reader already knew that stuff - sort of like computer geeks today trying to teach boomers with slightly more understanding of computers than a cave man - and getting angry at the boomers. I have only toured the USS Constitution (during a restoration) and the HMS Surprise (formerly Rose). Victory is on my list.

I got to tour this ship almost 30 years ago with my grandfather, and great uncle, Still have those photos and memories, though they are both gone. The Zippo lighter with the HMS Victory on it is still on a self in my Office. So impressive a ship.

I seriously want to see the HMS Victory in person, in all her glory
She's an impressive ship, even today

Beautifully realistic graphics of her sailing. Gave me goosebumps.

I had no idea how sophisticated and complex these ships were.

I've always wondered if the space called the "Lubber's Hole" was a way to get up there if you didnt want to go overhanging... amazing documentary, these old sailing ships are engineering marvels. I'm very excited for part 2! cant wait

the quality and the amount of information packaged into these videos is astounding a thousand time's better then anything the history channel puts out in fact most of if not all the knowledge i've gained about the Napoleonic wars has been from this channel could watch these videos for hours thank you for your amazing work

Fantastic video! When I read the Horatio Hornblower series I poured over books trying to understand all the terms and how ships were laid out. This had more information that any of them! I think I even got more from this than touring the ship itself! (Not that it wasn’t super cool to do that)

This is the video series I have been hoping for! This finally explains so many things about these great ships. I have read all the Hornblower novels and didn't understand so much. Thanks so much!

I visited the Victory 2019 in Portsmouth. All visitors had to wait at the entrance for half an hour to be admitted because there was a Navy reception on the ship. I learned that the Victory still serves as the flagship of Her Majesty's First Sea Lord.
The tour of this ship, restored by the restorers and historians to the condition of the Battle of Trafalgar, was mind blowing.
You could literally feel the history of the battle on this ship.
I can only recommend everyone to visit this unique ship if you have the opportunity.

I saw HMS victory in Portsmouth, must be about over 10 years ago and being on there with the history and gravitas was breathtaking!! So happy it's getting restored to keep it alive for futurr generations to learn about first hand rather than in a book.

Thanks for posting, This is a detailed and informed account of life at sea then, and particularly on HMS Victory. It was pretty tough, but men were honed to deliver of their best.

I love your way of telling this history. And, coming from a mariner, you showed me much I didn't know about the age of sail. Thanks.

Wow what a awesome ship the way they made everything they needed with rope and pulley absolutely awesome

Stunning work and content, top quality, thank you for another Master Class!

Outstanding video. I always wanted to know more of HMS Victory, and this video is perfect for that! Highly informative, enjoyable content with great visuals.

To give you an idea of how Brilliant Victory’s design was the succeeding Caledonia class of First rate used her as a starting point. The Caledonia class were ordered in 1827 while Victory was ordered in 1758.
That’s like people using the Gloster Meteor from WW2 as their start point for designing a modern jet fighter.
Or using a pre dreadnought battleship as the basis for a WW2 battleship design
Or using the last standard issue Lee Enfield rifles as the start point for designing the British army’s new infantry weapon.
While technology was moving slower back then so its not entirely a fair comparison it gives you some idea how potent Victory’s design was.

It would be amazing to see you do other various famous ships throughout history.

We have been to Portsmooth's historic dock yard and of course we have been to HMS Victory War Ship. As a matter of fact it is a must see piece of art.

This is a great history on HMS Victory! ✌🏻 The ships and history of this period is endless fascinating! 👍😀

When I was in the USN in 1980 . Portsmouth was one of our ports and I had went on the Victory . It was a nice looking sail ship . Always interested in about the history of it .

Superb description! Very clear and precise narrative. I'm ex UK 🇬🇧 army but really enjoy video's of this clarity and quality. Thanks very much.

Man that was so cool, and just amazing to see you break down each room, each rope, each anchor, and each gun. I cannot imagine the amount of work it took. Please know we thank you immensely for your great work and passion

I’ve been a huge fan of yours Epic History and love your work. The Napoleon Wars were the best history content I’ve seen (in my opinion) but I ask one favor from you.. Please make a series on the American civil war. It would be amazing to see your work and better understanding of the battlefields and positioning. Thanks for all your content!

i was fortunate enough to see one of its sails laid out from trafalga in rare period on display you could see cannon hole rips which where like traingles with one one side of the triangle still attached to the sheet. They also had nelsons letters on display and journal which you could read through the glass display

Wonderful video, absolutely wonderful. We've visited HMS Victory a few times over the past year (and many times before when I was a kid) and it's always awe-inspiring. Incidentally, does Charles Nove also narrate the audio tour on the Victory?!

Another fantastic video, proving once again why this channel is the king of telling epic history

Awesome video. You definitely did your research. I've served on two ships, and I can tell, that you know, what you were talking about. Awesome job. Your documentaries are top of the line.

Oh lord this is going to be epic.
Such an incredible channel, telling the story behind this epic ship in this incredible time period

Pretty awesome learning all the detail . This channel never disappoint .

Truly the most professional history channel in KRclip!👑

I had the privilege of being a guide on the Victory when I was in the Royal Navy. We actually lived on the Victory, our mess was fwd on the main gun deck. I slung a hammock for my time on her. This unique experience gave me a continuing interest in historic ships.

When I lived in Southsea, from 1956-1976, I visited HMS Victory several times, for my own benefit, then for relatives. This was the era when serving matelots did their own research before taking visitors around on a tour. So each guide had his/her own slant on things. I always remember that the saying "three square meals a day" came about because sailors of that era ate on square wooden plates. The phrase of being, "on the fiddle" relates to the name of the raised strip of wood close to the edge of said plate and which a serving of food wasn't to touch or "be on the fiddle!" It's always interesting to discover the origin of the dozens of sayings that have come down from the decades!

I'm meant to be working, but watched a second of this and just watched the whole thing. Every second was so fascinating. I'm definitely going to visit the Victory next time I'm down in England.

I've always known that these ships were massive and advanced. But, I'd never imagined it was this advanced. Everything on the ship is thought out, like keeping lights away from powder, the fact that the rooms can be torn down to make room for the guns. It's honestly humbeling to learn all of this.

Thank you for making this documentary. HMS Victory has been a fascination of mine since I was 12 years old. It's been a dream to see her at Portsmouth for the past couple of decades, but circumstances haven't allowed for it.
Personally, I hope that one day HMS Victory is repaired to a point we can see her in all her glory, with her masts and rigging fully displayed as she would have been while still active.

Wow this was simply amazing. Never seen a video this detailed and i LOVED IT.

One of the best informational films I have ever seen. Visually and spatially clear with each idea narrated and shown graphically beautifully. No wasted words and many topics covered with efficiency and precision. Great job!