£16m restoration of HMS Victory underway 12.12.11
9Work got underway yesterday on a £16 million pound restoration of Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar. The oldest commissioned warship in the world is looking a little worse for wear after 246 years, but the work underway now will give her a new lease of life. For generations she has been a major tourist attraction at Portsmouth Naval Base, giving visitors a taste of what life was like for sailors in Nelson's day. But as well as bearing the scars suffered at the Battle of Trafalgar, she has also been showing her age. As part of a 10-year restoration project decayed timber from the side planking is being replaced with hand-fitted teak and top sections of her mast are also being replaced. The contract for the work has been awarded to BAE Systems. Victory, the oldest commissioned warship in the world, has sailed the high seas, fought major battles and been bombed. Soon she will be back to her former glory for tourists to view and climb aboard in the south coast city.