Portal:Royal Navy/Selected ship/1
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HMS Victory is a 104-gun ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built between 1759 and 1765. She was constructed at Chatham Dockyard, and was something of an unusual occurrence at the time; during the whole of the 18th century only ten first-rates were constructed. The Royal Navy preferred smaller and more manoeuvrable ships and it was unusual for more than two first-rates to be in commission simultaneously. Victory was Horatio Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar. In 1812, her active career ended, and over the next century, she served as a depot ship and signals school before restoration work began in 1922. She opened as a museum in 1928, although conservation and restoration work is still ongoing. Currently, Victory sits in dry dock in Portsmouth as a museum ship. She is the oldest naval ship still in commission and the only remaining ship of the line except for the Regalskeppet Vasa.
