Tall Ships
Historic sailing ships and significant sail-assisted steamships, from square-rigged warships and clippers to the transition from sail to steam. Some survive as museum hulls rather than operational sailing vessels.
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HMS Victory: Nelson’s Flagship and the World’s Oldest Commissioned Warship
How HMS Victory was built at Chatham, refitted for Trafalgar, saved in dry dock at Portsmouth and kept in commission as a flagship.
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Cutty Sark: From the Tea Trade to Australian Wool and Greenwich
How a clipper built for the China tea trade made her name carrying Australian wool, survived as Ferreira and became a museum ship at…
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HMS Warrior: Britain’s First Iron-Hulled Armoured Warship
How HMS Warrior combined an iron hull, armour, steam and sail in 1861, and how a ship that became a hulk and an oil…
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Vasa: Why the King’s Warship Sank and How She Survives
Why Vasa sank in Stockholm harbour in 1628, how she was raised in 1961, and the long work of keeping her hull from deforming…
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Mary Rose: Raising and Conserving Henry VIII’s Warship
How the Mary Rose was found, raised from the Solent in 1982 and conserved over 34 years, from PEG spraying and air drying to…
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SS Great Britain: Brunel’s Iron Screw Steamer and the Hull That Survived
How SS Great Britain joined an iron hull to screw propulsion in 1845, and how that hull survived Australia, the Falklands and a return…
