HMS Victory masts to be removed in conservation plans

The masts of Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship HMS Victory are to be removed across three nights as part of a major conservation project, it has been announced.

It is the latest phase of the ten-year £42m scheme, dubbed The Big Repair, that marks the 100th anniversary of the ship being brought into Portsmouth's dry dock.

A 750-tonne crane will remove Victory's rear mast, the foremast, and the bowsprit, across three nights in April, weather permitting. The main mast was removed in 2021.

A huge scaffolding structure will then be constructed that will enclose the ship until the conservation project ends in 2033.

Andrew Baines, executive director of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, called it a "key moment for The Big Repair project".

The ship currently has a dual role as the flagship of the First Sea Lord - the professional head of the Royal Navy - and as a living museum to the Georgian Navy.

The masts will be lowered and laid near the ship, ready for the conservation work to begin.

Baines said it would be the first time Victory was without all its masts since the early 1890s.

"Our team has planned this step in meticulous detail, but we still have to work around factors like the weather," he said.

"That's why we will carry out the lifts overnight, so we can work safely and without interruption for several hours at a time."

He added: "We have learned a huge amount from the removal of Main Lower Mast in 2021, and once all masts are removed and safely stored, we can begin the critical work of conserving them before their eventual return to the ship in 2033."

Stuart Sheldon, lead rigger at the museum, said: "HMS Victory matters to people in a way few objects do.

"That brings real pressure, and it should. This lift is complex and it needs absolute precision.

"Putting the plan into action on the night will be a career highlight for the whole team."

On 12 January 1922, the celebrated survivor of the Battle of Trafalgar was towed from its berth in Portsmouth Harbour and secured in the dry dock.

It was opened as a museum to the public by King George V in 1928 and has since welcomed more than 30 million visitors.

HMS Victory and the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard site will remain open to visitors as usual during the upcoming works.

The mast removal is currently scheduled for 27 to 29 April.