3D laser imaging brings Victory back to high seas
Victory is the world’s oldest commissioned warship and was Nelson’s flag ship at the Battle of Trafalgar where the Royal Navy took on a combined French and Spanish fleet in 1805.
The 248-year-old vessel is currently undergoing conservation at her home in Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard and the new technique is allowing experts to see more clearly how the ship was made and the complexity of the 18th century vessel.
Laser scanning of the ship, which is owned by the National Museum of the Royal Navy, has been used to construct a digital model which contains the details of every piece of timber and iron in its construction. It is made up of approximately 80,000 components.
Each component has its position, dimensions, material, record of replacement, and condition embedded to provide a database for the conservation of the ship.
This ’intelligent model’ developed by BAE Systems represents a major advance in the approach to the management of historic structures. As further restoration is carried out using the model as a template, a record of the work will be added to it.
Rory Fisher, managing director of BAE Systems Maritime Services, said: “The laser mapping provides us with an unprecedented level of insight into the construction of HMS Victory and allows our specialist team to identify the best ways to restore this iconic vessel.”
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. In 1922 she was moved to a dry dock at Portsmouth and preserved as a museum ship.
