ABOUT THE VICTORY

Admiral  Horatio Nelson, K.B.

It is perhaps necessary to explain the merit of a tattered piece of cloth in the study of an architectural thesis.  The events responsible for the present condition of the sail stand as a turning point in history.  For the Englishman of the early 1800's, the circumstances of continental Europe had a life and death impact.  The invasion of England by Napoleon seemed imminent.  Compared to the 'season of discontent' following Dunkirk in World war Two, the Napoleonic Invasion was a threat for six consecutive years spanning 1799 to 1805.  The only surefire way of removing this threat was the total annihilation of the Franco-Spanish fleet at sea, and the complete control of the English Channel

In this regard, the story of Horatio Nelson and the H.M.S. Victory is one straight out of myth and legend.  Rarely, if ever, has a man lived up to the role of protagonist as Nelson and his flagship did during the Battle of Trafalgar.  Despite the tendency of modern historians to hyperbolize his efforts, the gains made by Nelson at Trafalgar truly elevated Great Britain to its apogee as a naval power.

The H.M.S. Victory certainly provided a suitable platform for a national hero in form of Admiral Nelson.  She was a first rate ship of the line. In addition, her crew was one of the finest group of sailors ever assembled. Despite the fact that His Majesty's fleet was outnumbered, it was this reliance on superb seamanship that carried the day at Trafalgar.  Much has been written about the events of the late summer of 1805.  Simply put, Admiral Villeneuve's Franco-Spanish fleet had been bottlenecked in the port of Cadiz for far too long.  While the blockading British had ample opportunity to practice their seamanship and gunnery in the open ocean, the opposing ships of the line were wasting away in port.  Finally, political pressure in the form of Napoleon's erroneous tactical decisions forced Villeneuve to leave his safe harbour and face Nelson head on.  When the sun dawned on October 21, 1805 and revealed three dozen enemy ships, Nelson's men finally received the confrontation they had been preparing for for so long.  In their minds, there was no doubt as to the outcome of the coming battle.

The Victory During Battle

When the smoke finally cleared from Trafalgar, the magnitude of the rout that had occurred became apparent.  Nineteen enemy ships had been captured by  the British, with not a single loss.  Still , the death of Nelson made the victory bittersweet.  National security had come at a high price.  It is perhaps this final irony in the loss of a national hero that makes the history of the Victory and Trafalgar so intriguing even today.

The Victory at a glance

Overall Length Length at Gun Deck Beam Displacement Maximum Speed Cost of Construction Armament at Trafalgar Lower Deck Middle Deck Upper Deck Quarter Deck Forecastle Crew at Trafalgar Total : 821 men 69.2m  (227ft) 56.7m  (186ft) 16m  (52ft) 3 600 tonnes  (3 500 tons) 8 knots  (9mph) 63 176 pounds  (currency :1759-65) 30 x 32 pounders 28 x 24 pounders 30 x long 12 pounders 12 x short 12 pounders 2 x 68 pounder carronades 2 x medium 12 pounders 11 officers (including Nelson) 48 Non-commisioned officers 80 Petty officers 204 Able Seamen 195 Ordinary Seamen 90 Landsmen 40 Boys 4 Royal Marine Officers 149 Marines

Image Sources : Howarth,  Traflagar - The nelson Touch. Collins, 1969.

Bibliography

Balfour, Alan.  Portsmouth.  London: Riley & Sons, 1970.

Barber, M., ed.  The Military Orders.  Aldershot, Hampshire: Variorum, 1994

Bateman, M. and Riley, R.  The Geography of defence.  London: Croom Helm, 1987.

Brawne, Michael.  The New Museum: Architecture and Display  New York : Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., 1965.
    Brawne's well known critical surveys of museum architecture completed in the 1960's serve as a
benchmark for any scholar interested in the subject.  The primary theory forewarded in this work is that as a means for the presentation of culture, a museum can be more than the sum of its parts.  Concepts of procession, volume, lighting and other technical aspects are analyzed in depth,  but even in this Brawne convey the necessity for a more sublime and compelling quality in successful museum design.  The critical analysis of dozens of museums of the day serve to graphically illustrate the theoretical points in real space.  The brief historical overview of museum development lends credibility to Brawne's theories as a whole.

Brawne, Michael.  The Museum Interior.  London: Thames & Hudson, 1982.
    A more technical work than its earlier counterpart, The museum Interior manages to expand on the more scientific aspects of the museum environment, without losing Brawne's zeal for compelling design.  Again introduced with a theoretical discourse, this text succeeds in presenting somewhat dry technical information in a manner that architects can relate to.

Cannizzo, Jeanne.  Negotiated Realities - Towards an Ethnography of Museums.  Memorial University Press: St. John's, 1991.
    Perhaps the most theoretical text explored in the thesis research, Cannizzo approaches museums and their collections as visual ideologies and as cultural texts.  The root purpose of the analyses presented is to understand the way in which people 'categorize' their own material inheritance.  Specifically, this refers to the grouping of objects, and designations of importance on particular artifacts.  Particular emphasis is placed on everyday objects made extraordinary by historical circumstance.  The example of the yacht Granma  from which Fidel Castro launched his revolution is a suitable example for the Victory Topsail, as it exhibits very ordinary objects made significant by their association with castro's coup.  Ligthers, shirts, and pens are some examples.  Cannizzo places great importance on understanding the reasons some unexpected artifacts achieve cultural significance.

Chapman, Fredrik Henrik.  Architectura Navalis Mercatoria.  London: Adlard Coles Ltd.  1768.

Donzel, Catherine.  New Museums.  Paris: Telleri, 1998.

Dundes, Allen.  Interpreting Folklore.  Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1980.

Glassie, Henry.  Material Culture  Indianapolis:  Indiana University Press, 1999.
    Published thirty years after glassie's first book on material culture, this work is still steeped in the  mentality of 'breaking the door down' on old world preconceptions of art and culture.  The opening statement of 'history and art connecting in the study of material culture' shows the pertinence of  this book to the thesis.  Curiosly having divided the book into two parts history and material culture Glassie nonetheless does well to relate the two.  History is presented as coming in two distinct forms.  The first is one of names, dates, and places, carefully taught in school.  The second is the unspoken murky world of local history, which is passed on tacitly often without realization.  The artifact of interest in terms of material culture arises from the second.  The thought processes for analyzing this 'material culture' provide a basis for understanding the significance of the Victory Fore Topsail beyond its obvious historic value.

Herodatus., Trans. R. Waterfield.  The Histories.   Oxford: The Oxford University Press, 1998.

Howarth, D.  Trafalgar: The Nelson Touch.  London: Collins, 1969.
    Howarth's account of Nelson's life and the Battle of Trafalgar is arguably the best work ever written
    about the naval commander.  With a scope beyond just the main players in the drama, this text communicates
    well the lifestyle and mindset of the common sailor in 1805.  As this thesis seeks to present the topsail
    as representative of a community and a people, the tale told by Howarth is an inspiration .
    The descriptions presented of the dockyard and ship architecture also serve to paint a vivid picture
    of Portsmouth at the turn of the nineteenth century.

Leone, M.P.  The Recovery of Meaning: HIstorical Archaeology in the Eastern United States.  Washingtion: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988

Linstrum, Derek.  Towers and Colonnades - The architecture of Cuthbert Brodrick  Leeds: The Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society Ltd., 1999.
    Aside from the compelling human drama in Broderick's life presented in this work, the designs analyzed bear direct influence on the project at hand in that they communicate many of the same intentions presently under consideration.  Aside from designing Leeds Town Hall, Broderick was interested in designing the town hall for Portsmouth, although this project was never realized.  Still, the concept of architecture as evocative representation of British society raises pertinent issue for this thesis.

Murphy, M., & Margolis, L., Ed.  Science, Materialism, and the Study of Culture.  Gainesville: The University of Florida Press, 1995.

Thomson, Garry.  The Museum Environment.  Toronto: Butterworth & Co., 1986.

Steele, James. Architecture in Detail - The California Aerospace Museum  New York: Phaidon, 1998.

Tilley, Christopher, Ed.  Reading Material Culture.  Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd.  1990.
    This compilation of works provides excellent material for understanding objects as artifacts Of Particular note is Levi-Strauss' text exploring history as myth, and the need for cultural icons.  The examination of history outside of universally accepted 'historical facts' reveals how the human narrative inevitably alters collective memory