Victory conservation project reached a major milestone
SPECIAL COLLABORATION
HMS Victory back in June
IN AUGUST, the unique collaboration between the National Museum of the Royal Navy and BAE Systems on the multi-million pound HMS Victory conservation project reached a major milestone that was perfectly timed for the public reopening of Portsmouth Historic Dockyard after lockdown.
Having closed at the end of March due to Covid-19, the Historic Dockyard opened its doors again on August
24, with results of this world-first project greatly contributing to an improved visitor experience.
Despite the UK’s nationwide lockdown, BAE Systems engineers continued work to create a new state-of-the-art support system for Admiral Nelson’s 255-year-old flagship.
The specially-engineered design made up of 134 individual smart props provides better support for HMS Victory’s hull and means that real-time weight distribution data provides early warning of faults or weaknesses in the ship, which can be identified and fixed before being visible to the human eye.
The design also enables visitors to take in the extraordinary scale of the ship by walking down the new Under Hull Path to the bottom of the dry dock, where they can view the props and the enormous hull up close.
The innovative system replaces 22 steel cradles which were installed when HMS Victory came to rest in the dry dock in 1922.
Over time, without the pressure of the sea against the hull, the 3,600-tonne ship began to sag under her own weight.
However, thanks to
BAE Systems’ engineering expertise, HMS Victory is now supported by a network of technology mimicking the variable pressures of the sea, effectively allowing HMS Victory to ‘float’ for the first time in almost 100 years.
Rob Hanway, Victory Programme Manager for
BAE Systems, says: ‘We were delighted to work in support of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, once again demonstrating our commitment to investing in the local community and contributing to the UK’s fantastic national heritage.’
Andrew Baines, Project Director from the National Museum of the Royal Navy, added: ‘Every prop has a load cell so we can know, on a minute-by-minute basis, how much of HMS Victory’s weight is being carried by each prop, providing the museum with invaluable insight into her stability and helping us to prevent damage to her structure.
‘Reaching this halfway stage, in a two decade-long conservation project, is an extraordinary achievement.’