HMS Victory at her mooring during refitting at Chatham

Sent home after the battle of Cape St Vincent (14 February 1797), HMS Victory she was found to be so defective when surveyed at Portsmouth in October that she was sent to Chatham, paid off and her name struck off the Navy List. After she had been rather ignominiously put to work, first as a hospital ship and later as a prison hulk (December 1797 - January 1799), the decision was taken to refit her, although once this work began it quickly became apparent that far more fundamental reconstruction was necessary if she was to recover her status as a fighting ship. The eventual costs of this exceeded £70,000 but the Admiralty was pleased with the refit and Victory finally returned to sea as Nelson's flagship in May 1803. Although undated, this work shows clearly the 1801-03 alterations to the ship's stern galleries, which were subsequently shot to pieces at Trafalgar, and may therefore be dated to c.1801-03