Thursday, January 01, 2009

Mini-Dylan tours Admiral Nelson's ship- Victory

Today Miss K and Mini-Dylan a whole lot about Nelson's and England's history by touring Admiral Nelson's ship- Victory that was in the Battle of Traflagar against the French.
I was very impressed with the Victory. At first I thought it was a replica but it was the very real thing. This ship was the flag ship in the Battle of Trafalgar between England and the French where Admiral Nelson was mortally wounded. I was astounded to learn that the ship carried over 800 sailors and boys in dreadful conditions. The tour guide showed us all over the ship from Nelson’s luxurious cabin right down to the bilge of the ship where they stored the gunpowder in leather bound powder kegs on a base of shingle to stop the barrels moving and igniting a spark.



I learnt where the phrase ‘three square meals a day’ came from. The sailors’ dinner plates were made from square wooden plates and they got three square meals a day. The meals themselves were pretty rancid but the sailors were allowed to drink hefty daily allowances of grog which is probably the only thing that kept them going.


You weren’t allowed to take photos on the tour but I still managed to get this one. You can see all the cannons ready to fire their shot. It was real deadly fighting machine.

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