The 1805 Dispatches #26.03 June 2026 5 of 8 a level as low as reasonably practical and risk to life has really been eliminated.” The ship’s main mast was removed in 2021 at the start of the restoration of the whole ship, which is being billed as the Big Repair. Once all the masts are down, a huge scaffolding structure will encase the vessel and remain in place until the conservation project ends in 2033. Victory’s original masts were wooden but in the 1890s a survey concluded they were rotten and should be replaced with wrought iron masts recycled from the decommissioned frigate HMS Shah. “HMS Shah was retired and had been sent off to Bermuda and didn’t need her masts,” Baines said. “It was decided that they were good enough to be dropped in Victory as part of a repair and a refresh. They are thought to be the only surviving iron masts of the 19th century still in use.” It is the first time Victory has been without all her masts since then, and Baines said it would look a little odd. “The number one query that comes our way is when are the masts going back.” He said the restoration was a slow, careful process. “It would be faster to build a new ship but we’re not involved in a piece of shipbuilding or a ship repair. These masts are important objects in their own right. They need to be protected for another century plus and that takes time.” Subsequently Charlotte Coles reported for BBC News, on 21 May 2026: "Six 19th Century coins and tokens have been discovered beneath the foremast of HMS Victory. The find was made following the successful removal of Victory's foremast at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. The discovery connects directly to a long-standing maritime tradition in which coins were placed beneath a ship's mast as a symbolic act, says Andrew Baines, executive director of Museum Operations at Royal Navy Museums. The newly discovered coins and token, together with the earlier coin discovered beneath Victory's main lower mast, will go on display in the Victory Gallery at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard from 23 May and will remain on display throughout the summer. Baines said uncovering the coins was an "extraordinary surprise". The coins have endured extreme conditions for 132 years, sitting beneath the fore lower mast, bearing the weight of approximately 50 tonnes of masts, yards and rigging above them.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTYyMzU=