England Guide
Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire
The Royal Naval Base
Opening time: Daily: April– Oct 10am–6pm; Nov– March 10am–5.30pm (last entry 90min before closing); visits to the Victory are guided so book ahead
Price: Individual ships £12, museum £4.50, or £16.50 all-inclusive
Address: Queen Street
For most visitors, a trip to Portsmouth begins and ends at the Historic Ships, in the Royal Naval Base. The complex comprises three ships and as many museums, the main attractions being HMS Victory, HMS Warrior (including the Royal Naval Museum), Action Stations (an interactive simulation of life aboard a modern naval frigate), the Mary Rose Museum, and a harbour tour.
The youngest ship, HMS Warrior, dates from 1860. It was Britain's first armoured (iron-clad) battleship, complete with sails and steam engines, and was the pride of the fleet in its day. The ship displays a wealth of weaponry, including rifles, pistols and sabres, though the Warrior was never challenged nor even fired a cannon in her 22 years at sea.
HMS Victory was already forty years old when she set sail from Portsmouth for Trafalgar on September 14, 1805, returning in triumph three months later, but bearing the corpse of Admiral Nelson. Shot by a sniper from a French ship at the height of the battle, Nelson expired below decks three hours later, having been assured that victory was in sight. Although badly damaged during the battle, the Victory continued in service for a further twenty years.
The exhaustive Royal Naval Museum traces naval history from Alfred the Great's fleet to the present day, the collection includes some jolly figureheads, Nelson memorabilia and nautical models, though coverage of more recent conflicts is scantily treated.
The Mary Rose, Henry VIII's flagship, capsized before his eyes off Spithead in 1545 while engaging French intruders, sinking swiftly with almost all her seven-hundred-strong crew. In 1982 a massive conservation project successfully raised the remains of the hull, which silt had preserved beneath the seabed. The ship itself is less absorbing than the thousands of objects retrieved near the wreck, displayed in an exhibition close by.
Action Stations has interactive games, videos and graphics to simulate life aboard ship, while the Dockyard Apprentice illustrates the various skills involved in equipping and repairing ships in 1911.