Book Review of
Victory 100-gun First Rate 1765
Ship Craft no. 29
Author: Kerry Jang
Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-3990-8573-1
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $28.95
ISBN: 978-1-3990-8573-1
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $28.95
HISTORY:
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, ordered in 1758, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is best known for her role as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.
She additionally served as Keppel's flagship at Ushant, Howe's flagship at Cape Spartel and Jervis's flagship at Cape St Vincent. After 1824, she was relegated to the role of a harbor-ship.
In 1922, she was moved to a dry dock at Portsmouth, England, and preserved as a museum ship. She has been the flagship of the First Sea Lord since October 2012 and is the world's oldest naval ship still in commission, with 244 years' service as of 2022.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Name: HMS Victory
Ordered: 14 July 1758
Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Laid down: 23 July 1759
Launched: 7 May 1765; 257 years ago
Commissioned: 1778
In service: 244 years
Homeport: Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, England, 50°48′07″N 1°06′35″W Coordinates: 50°48′07″N 1°06′35″W
Honours and awards:
Participated in:
First Battle of Ushant (1778), Second Battle of Ushant (1781), Battle of Cape Spartel (1782), Battle of Cape St Vincent (1797), Battle of Trafalgar (1805)
Status : Active
Flagship of the First Sea Lord and museum ship
General characteristics:
Class and type: 104-gun first-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 2,142 bm
Length: 186 ft (57 m) (gundeck), 227 ft 6 in (69.34 m) (overall), Beam 51 ft 10 in (15.80 m), Draught 28 ft 9 in (8.76 m)
Depth of hold: 21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
Propulsion: Sails—6,510 sq yd (5,440 m2)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Speed: Up to 11 knots (20 km/h)
Complement: Approximately 850
Armament:
Trafalgar:
Gundeck: 30 × 2.75-ton long pattern Blomefield 32-pounders (15 kg)
Middle gundeck: 28 × 2.5-ton long 24-pounders (11 kg)
Upper gundeck: 30 × 1.7-ton short 12-pounders (5 kg)
Quarterdeck: 12 × 1.7-ton short 12-pounder (5 kg)
Forecastle: 2 × medium 12-pounder (5 kg), 2 × 68-pounder (31 kg) carronade
Height from waterline to top of mainmast: 205 ft (62.5 m)
THE BOOK:
Seaforth Publishing is based in the UK.
This book is of soft-cover of 65 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover art shows a color photo of a Victory kit’s bow section. It’s sides are jet black above and below a tan section that has the cannon port holes in it, above a red water-line. Below it is a color illustration of the stern half of the Victory in the same color pattern.
The back cover of the book has 2 color photos of Victory kits. One shows an above shot of the center section and life-boats. The other photo shows the stern and it’s three lamps, and white insignias.
This is the first in the Shipcraft Series to cover a period ship, but as with all previous titles it aims to provide modelers with all they need to know about this famous warship and the associated model kits, whether plastic, wood or multi-media.
Victory, now preserved in Portsmouth, is arguably the most famous ship in the world. She will be forever associated with Nelson and his crushing defeat of the Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in 1805, but by that time this ship was already 40 years old and had flown the flag of many well-known admirals.
The ship eventually served nearly half a century, and during this time and subsequent harbor service, her appearance , decoration and fittings varied significantly. This book looks at all these issues, including surprising uncertainties about some aspects of her long career- research is ongoing and as recently as 2015 Victory was completely repainted to reflect the latest archaeological evidence.
Covering every period of the ship’s career, this book offers an unparalleled level of visual information-color scheme illustrations, models, photographs and the most reliable contemporary prints and paintings. It is simply the best reference for any model-maker setting out to build this iconic ship.
The book contains: A summary of design and development, details of modifications and appearance changes, critical reviews of available kits, gallery of photos of outstanding models, color reference for paint schemes and sources of further information from books to websites.
The book contains 126 color photos and 2 black and white ones, along with 13 paintings of the Victory.
Models shown are:
An aerial photo of a model of Chatham Dockyard dating from 1770’s, with Victory at dock.
An unknown brand 1/180th scale Victory model.
47 Victory signal flags in color.
A birds-eye view painting of the Battle of Trafalgar, actual Victory being re-painted in terracotta scheme in 2016.
Langdon Miniatures brand Victory kit in 1/200 scale, Henry Turner brand Victory 1765 kit in 1/700th scale, also in 1/700 scale-the Meridian Trafalgar Range kit, the Artist Hobby kit, the Warlord Games Black Sea Range kit, the Airfix starter and 1/180 scale kits, the Revell brand 1/450th & 1/325th kits and the Heller 1/100th scale kit.
For wood ships there is shown:
The Caldercraft 1/725th scale kit, the Amati brand 1/64th scale kit, Dafinismus 1/00th scale and 16 others listed in various scales.
Detail sets listed are:
A wood deck by Scaledecks brand in 1/100th scale, Scale Workshop PE set and two scratch-built kits in 1/100th & 1/48th scale (plastic or wood ?).
Color profiles shown are:
Two 4-views, six side-views, four rear-views, a 5-view.
The last page of the book shows 14 black and white cover arts of other Seaforth books and a listing of 32 more.
This is a very detailed book on Victory models. It will be of great interest to modelers planning on building a Victory and to naval historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers, the N. American distributor of Seaforth Books for this book sample. All Seaforth titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, ordered in 1758, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is best known for her role as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.
She additionally served as Keppel's flagship at Ushant, Howe's flagship at Cape Spartel and Jervis's flagship at Cape St Vincent. After 1824, she was relegated to the role of a harbor-ship.
In 1922, she was moved to a dry dock at Portsmouth, England, and preserved as a museum ship. She has been the flagship of the First Sea Lord since October 2012 and is the world's oldest naval ship still in commission, with 244 years' service as of 2022.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Name: HMS Victory
Ordered: 14 July 1758
Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Laid down: 23 July 1759
Launched: 7 May 1765; 257 years ago
Commissioned: 1778
In service: 244 years
Homeport: Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, England, 50°48′07″N 1°06′35″W Coordinates: 50°48′07″N 1°06′35″W
Honours and awards:
Participated in:
First Battle of Ushant (1778), Second Battle of Ushant (1781), Battle of Cape Spartel (1782), Battle of Cape St Vincent (1797), Battle of Trafalgar (1805)
Status : Active
Flagship of the First Sea Lord and museum ship
General characteristics:
Class and type: 104-gun first-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 2,142 bm
Length: 186 ft (57 m) (gundeck), 227 ft 6 in (69.34 m) (overall), Beam 51 ft 10 in (15.80 m), Draught 28 ft 9 in (8.76 m)
Depth of hold: 21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
Propulsion: Sails—6,510 sq yd (5,440 m2)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Speed: Up to 11 knots (20 km/h)
Complement: Approximately 850
Armament:
Trafalgar:
Gundeck: 30 × 2.75-ton long pattern Blomefield 32-pounders (15 kg)
Middle gundeck: 28 × 2.5-ton long 24-pounders (11 kg)
Upper gundeck: 30 × 1.7-ton short 12-pounders (5 kg)
Quarterdeck: 12 × 1.7-ton short 12-pounder (5 kg)
Forecastle: 2 × medium 12-pounder (5 kg), 2 × 68-pounder (31 kg) carronade
Height from waterline to top of mainmast: 205 ft (62.5 m)
THE BOOK:
Seaforth Publishing is based in the UK.
This book is of soft-cover of 65 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover art shows a color photo of a Victory kit’s bow section. It’s sides are jet black above and below a tan section that has the cannon port holes in it, above a red water-line. Below it is a color illustration of the stern half of the Victory in the same color pattern.
The back cover of the book has 2 color photos of Victory kits. One shows an above shot of the center section and life-boats. The other photo shows the stern and it’s three lamps, and white insignias.
This is the first in the Shipcraft Series to cover a period ship, but as with all previous titles it aims to provide modelers with all they need to know about this famous warship and the associated model kits, whether plastic, wood or multi-media.
Victory, now preserved in Portsmouth, is arguably the most famous ship in the world. She will be forever associated with Nelson and his crushing defeat of the Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in 1805, but by that time this ship was already 40 years old and had flown the flag of many well-known admirals.
The ship eventually served nearly half a century, and during this time and subsequent harbor service, her appearance , decoration and fittings varied significantly. This book looks at all these issues, including surprising uncertainties about some aspects of her long career- research is ongoing and as recently as 2015 Victory was completely repainted to reflect the latest archaeological evidence.
Covering every period of the ship’s career, this book offers an unparalleled level of visual information-color scheme illustrations, models, photographs and the most reliable contemporary prints and paintings. It is simply the best reference for any model-maker setting out to build this iconic ship.
The book contains: A summary of design and development, details of modifications and appearance changes, critical reviews of available kits, gallery of photos of outstanding models, color reference for paint schemes and sources of further information from books to websites.
The book contains 126 color photos and 2 black and white ones, along with 13 paintings of the Victory.
Models shown are:
An aerial photo of a model of Chatham Dockyard dating from 1770’s, with Victory at dock.
An unknown brand 1/180th scale Victory model.
47 Victory signal flags in color.
A birds-eye view painting of the Battle of Trafalgar, actual Victory being re-painted in terracotta scheme in 2016.
Langdon Miniatures brand Victory kit in 1/200 scale, Henry Turner brand Victory 1765 kit in 1/700th scale, also in 1/700 scale-the Meridian Trafalgar Range kit, the Artist Hobby kit, the Warlord Games Black Sea Range kit, the Airfix starter and 1/180 scale kits, the Revell brand 1/450th & 1/325th kits and the Heller 1/100th scale kit.
For wood ships there is shown:
The Caldercraft 1/725th scale kit, the Amati brand 1/64th scale kit, Dafinismus 1/00th scale and 16 others listed in various scales.
Detail sets listed are:
A wood deck by Scaledecks brand in 1/100th scale, Scale Workshop PE set and two scratch-built kits in 1/100th & 1/48th scale (plastic or wood ?).
Color profiles shown are:
Two 4-views, six side-views, four rear-views, a 5-view.
The last page of the book shows 14 black and white cover arts of other Seaforth books and a listing of 32 more.
This is a very detailed book on Victory models. It will be of great interest to modelers planning on building a Victory and to naval historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers, the N. American distributor of Seaforth Books for this book sample. All Seaforth titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.