Highlights-Portsmouth Day 2
I visited the Portsmouth Historic Dockyards. It is multiple museums: the dockyards, the Victory Gallery, HMS Victory, and the Mary Rose. There is nothing like a shipyard tour to get a former Navy Engineer’s heart racing. HMS Victory, ADM Nelson’s flagship during the Battle of Trafalgar, was under repair inside a large containment enclosing the ship and dry dock, large sections of timber removed for replacement, and scaffolding everywhere. I was in my element on that part of the tour (except no needle guns making deafening noise). The Deathbeetle is wreaking havoc. Not a flesh consuming beetle from “The Mummy,” but the wood-boring equivalent. Just as nasty, but slower working. I did a quick tour of the Mary Rose building (in a building because only half of the hull was preserved in the mud centuries after capsizing). The short version of the ship’s loss: capsized in 1545, found when no one was actually looking for it in 1971 (“What’s that thing down there?”), raised 1982. Finally, there was a short harbor tour that went past several Royal Navy Type 45 destroyers (Daring class, not so daring in practice, more like maintenance nightmares) and the Prince of Wales ski jump aircraft carrier. I had a very interesting conversation with three ladies returning from shopping (them, not me) returning to the AirBnB garage. FBI interrogators don’t ask as many questions. Normally, you are supposed to be cautious about giving away lots of information in foreign countries, but they didn’t look like terrorists in drag.
Bring it!
Ralph does cosplay at HMS Victory
No Desk in the Room Above the Garage
I made do with a director’s chair and a TV table
True …
… but only if it’s HOT
Keep the Goats Happy
Notable Items
In the Victory Gallery, a building housing artifacts, paintings, a ship figurehead collection, and an audio-visual (British term) describing the HMS Victory and its role in the Battle of Trafalgar (off the coast of Cádiz, Spain), I learned many interesting things (at least I thought they were interesting):
HMS Victory was built too wide to exit the dry dock where it was constructed. Shipwrights had to “shave” the dock gate. According to the audio-visual, the man who noticed this didn’t get recognized or paid for the work. While there is no doubt a longer story there, telling designers that their creation won’t work has never been rewarding.
When HMS Victory did float and exit the dry dock, it had a starboard list and the lower deck gunports weren’t very far above the waterline. Since the deeper than expected draft wasn’t as easily fixed as the list, the gunports had to be shut in rough seas. It was a good thing she only fought in good weather!
Several years before the Battle of Trafalgar, HMS Victory had been converted to a hospital ship because its stern was about to fall off (“extensive weaknesses in the stern timbers”). She had to be re-converted to a warship in 1799 when another big gun ship suddenly wasn’t available (it sank). The renovation cost three times what was estimated (some things never change).
Onboard the ship, wearing my orange hardhat, I learned that most of the rotting wood problem can be traced to poor rainwater drainage. When I asked a docent why they don’t keep it covered all the time, he said, “We could do that, but the public expect to see a warship outside.” Right, outside, sitting in a dry dock, permanently. She missed her undocking date 100 years ago. I guess they gave up rescheduling it after 50 years (another feature of ship repair that you can count on).
I had time for a “speed tour” (moving quickly, no long pauses to read signs) of the Mary Rose. It is also in a big hole in the ground, but it doesn’t have a gate like a dry dock. The museum is arranged around the half of the hull preserved in the mud. It is a combination of ship museum and illustration of underwater archeology.
By this time on my trip, I had the opportunity to walk around several British cities. I noticed, like Ireland, that there are many betting parlors (like on every corner). You can place a bet on almost anything, anytime in England (“Will Argentina get any shots on goal in the World Cup Final?”). With all the handwringing over legalized sports betting and people gambling away their rent payments in the US (suffering children are always part of the warnings), I wonder why British society hasn’t collapsed already? One might make arguments about how they’ve been doing it longer and are more mature than Americans, but all you have to do is ride a train in England to learn that second part isn’t true. I’ve seen some scary behavior on British trains.