H.M.S. Warrior

During our visit to Portsmouth, we spent most of our time in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, which is packed with interesting things. I could easily spend days exploring the whole place. Three old ships, many museums and more kept us entertained for the day. What I looked forward to the most was touring the HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar. Although that tour was a close runner-up, it was not my favorite; what I enjoyed most was wandering around HMS Warrior.

The Warrior is an old British warship built at the end of the age of sail (1860).  The name gives you an immediate sense of what she was like in her era. It was the first armored warship, armored in that every bit of the sides had at least one foot of oak and iron plating. She was built to intimidate other sailors, show off the strength of the British Navy, and act as a deterrent to any pirates. With an average speed of ten knots (eleven miles per hour, very fast for that era) by sail and more by steam, it was fast enough to outrun most ships. With the power of an engine, an uncommon thing, it was far more maneuverable than most ships at the time. She also had dozens of the newest and biggest guns of the era lining her broadside and the armored sides made enemy cannon-balls nearly useless. A broadside is the full battery of cannons along the side of a ship. To "Fire a Broadside" is to shoot all those guns at once. The weight of her broadside, the total weight of the cannon balls she shot when she fired a broadside, was the heaviest of the British Navy.  A crew trained to be the best gunners, fastest sailors, and toughest fighters completed her unbeatable reputation.

 Here Jack stands by one of the lighter guns, designed to throw thirty-two pound cannons. That is huge for most ships-not for the Warrior.

Where the three of us sit is where eight men would have eaten, slept, and lived. They would have been a gun crew in charge of the cannon next to them. You can see the plates and cutlery behind Mama. There were dozens of these tables on this level of the Warrior.

When she was newly launched, a pirate ship foolishly engaged her.  According to legend, her gunnery was so powerful and so well aimed that she sunk the pirates on her first broadside. More likely, she fired two broadsides and sank the pirate ship in the following chase as the pirates tried to escape. From then on, pirates merely took up honest work if rumor had it she was heading to their seas. Therefore, she never fought another engagement.  At any one time, the 700-man crew could stoke the engine, fire most of the guns, adjust her sails, and still keep thirty men armed to the teeth to board an enemy ship. I could barely breathe with excitement at the prospect of exploring her.

What really made our visit to this ship so great was the fact that we were allowed to wander around her as we pleased. Starting with the deck and rigging, we checked out everything. Having read many books about these square-rigged ships, it was interesting to see and identify as much as possible.

 Here is the seemingly endless tangle of lines that is the rigging. The crow's nest like place is called the fighting-top and you can see the poles perpendicular to the mast that would have had sails hanging from them. Trying to remember pictures from Wikipedia in order to identify all the lines was a challenge.

 The open deck as it was in 1880, when she sailed the seven seas.

 Here you can see the smoke stacks and ventilation system for the engine.

 Daddy checks out the Captain's cabin, which is bigger than Sila.

 Mama and I stand on a deck called the monkey deck. Young officers would stand there watching the sailors like monkeys. They were also ready to relay orders from the stern, or back, of the ship to the bow.

It was also fun to explain everything to Mama and Daddy. Without a knowledgeable guide, I learned less, but even so, being able to wander freely throughout the ship was well worth it.-Porter