Victory

August 8th.
Yesterday was quite a day, with lots and lots of activities to keep us very busy. We opted to take the M-class motorway so as to get to Portsmouth early, and were able to tour the Victory, Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar and the site of his death on the 21st of October 1805.

Quite a Nelson cult arose after Trafalgar, and that success cemented the supremacy of the British Navy, which remained unchallenged until the 20th century. There's a good book by Robin Lane Fox called "The Middle Sea" that deals with this in detail, while recounting a history of the Mediterranean. (Yes I know that Tafalgar wasn't in the Med, but you can take that up with Robin, he has his reasons). The museum collection next to the Victory was chock-full of Nelson sculptures, paintings, and more personal items like uniforms, buckles, and correspondence, as well as jewelry, including some made from Nelson's hair, all on display.

We also took in the narrated harbour tour, which, as Portsmouth is still a major Naval base and training centre, was weighted heavily with commentary on the modern warships moored there. We saw a couple of decomissioned aircraft carriers, built in the era of the harrier jet (as a kid I was fascinated by the idea of a vertical takeoff airplane and I still think they're cool), lots of frigates and some new destroyers including one in production called the "Duncan"! There was also the Monitor, a first world war vessel, and the Warrior, a huge capital ship of the Victorian era, still in the water, with three masts and two steam funnels.

The harbour is overlooked by a beautiful new observation platform, the Spinnaker Tower, which complements the port nicely. It seems to me that Portsmouth has managed to make many different eras both of boatbuilding and of architecture coexist in a peaceful and complementary way.

The most interesting part for me was the Mary Rose museum, which despite its unassuming exterior was wonderfully laid out inside. This ship of that name was a favorite of Henry VII, and it sank before his very eyes while repelling a french fleet in 1545 and stayed under water for over four hundred years before being rediscovered in 1971 and salvaged in 1982 in one of the most complex and expensive projects in the history of maritime archaeology. The ship itself is having a new museum complex built to display it, but the current museum is filled the the many "time capsule" objects that reveal Tudor customs and culture.

The kids were able to try out a number of example sets of weapons and armour, and the quality of preservation of so many artifacts was stunning. I especially liked the beautifully preserved bronze cannons, some made in England but others from Italy...

It was a lovely day out and a good start to our trip.

Note: we just got ourselves hooked up with a sim card and so just got several messages about our safety and well-being... Apparently there have been some riots in London and other cities, but we have seen no sign of any trouble and in any case our path will pass well clear of the affected places. We'll be careful.