A history of life on board HMS Victory, the world's most famous warship.

This addition to the best-selling Conway pocket-book range explores Admiral Nelson’s fully preserved flagship HMS Victory, the most tangible symbol of the Royal Navy’s greatest battle off Cape Trafalgar on October 21st 1805.

Peter Goodwin, the leading historian of the sailing man-of-war, explains the workings of the only surviving ‘line of battle’ ship of the Napoleonic Wars. And, as Victory was engaged in battle for only two per cent of her active service, the book also provides a glimpse into life and work at sea during the other ninety-eight per cent of the time.

Drawing from a selection of contemporary documents and records, Goodwin explains the day-to-day running of a three-decker Georgian warship: victualling, organisation, discipline, domestic arrangements and medical care. He answers questions such as: ‘What types of wood were used in building Victory?’; ‘What was her longest voyage?’; ‘How many shots were fired from her guns at Trafalgar?’; ‘How many boats did Victory carry?’; ‘What was prize money?’; ‘What was grog?’; ‘When did her career as a fighting ship end?’, and ‘How many people visit Victory each year?’

Illustrated with black and white diagrams of the ship and maps, this is a full history of the world's most famous warship in a highly accessible pocket-book format.

Peter Goodwin is widely acknowledged as one of the leading writers on the sailing warship. His published titles include the classic The Construction and Fitting of the Sailing Man of War (Conway, 1990), The Naval Cutter Alert (Conway 1992), Nelson's Ships (Conway 2002) and The Ships of Trafalgar (2005). Peter was Keeper and Curator of HMS Victory for some 20 years.