Channel 5 - Worlds Greatest Ships Series 1 (2018) Part 5 HMS Victory Nelson's Great Warship

– Also known as “Great British Ships” –

The British Isles have a long, rich and celebrated seafaring history stretching from the earliest times through the victories of Drake and Nelson, the voyages of discovery and the defence of the realm by vessels of all types in the present century. Much of this history is recorded in literature and in museums but reaches its most tangible form in the large number of historical ships that have been preserved and are continually restored as monuments to a proud past. This new series explores some of the most celebrated and accessible ships and looks the history of each vessels design, construction, active service and subsequent restoration and preservation. Visiting the ships as they stand today, Rob Bell will reveal how and why these monumental vessels were originally built. He'll reveal the mystery of why the Mary Rose sank and discover how HMS Belfast helped turn the tide on D-Day. From Nelson on board HMS Victory to Sir Francis Drake on the Golden Hind, Rob will reveal how daring, genius and dazzling invention led to Britain becoming the world's greatest sea power.

A Windfall Films Production for Channel 5

Part 5 HMS Victory Nelson's Great Warship

Rob discovers the incredible story of HMS Victory – Admiral Nelson's personal flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar. When Victory was built over forty years previously, she was the largest warship in the world with firepower equivalent to a whole army on land. Yet Rob discovers that this titan of the seas was very nearly scrapped long before the battle that would ultimately seal her place in history. Climbing on board this vast ship, Rob discovers the extraordinary feats of engineering behind Victory's construction – from the 6000 oaks felled for her planking, to the 27 miles of rope used for her rigging. Yet if Victory was exceptional, then so too was her most famous captain, Nelson – a celebrity renowned as much for a scandalous menage-a-trois as for his dazzling military leadership. At Trafalgar, Nelson used Victory's formidable power to spearhead a brutal new style of naval combat – yet came to pay the ultimate price at the hour of his greatest triumph. Finally, Rob explores Victory's extraordinary survival into the modern era. Today, her dedicated crew of 17 naval officers bear witness to the fact that this great ship isn't simply a monument to Britain's maritime past, but also the world's oldest, fully commissioned warship.

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