Another field trip, another museum!

 

This time we managed to make it to a whole new city! Portsmouth is home to Fanny (or Frankie) Price and the Royal Navy.   The city is almost entirely surrounded by water which understandably makes it an excellent location to house the navy.

Be aware that there will be as many naval puns as possible in this post.

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National Museum of the Royal Navy

 

This museum is a collection of varying naval related museums.  We made it to the hub which holds a major chunk of these museums.  Our trip was incredibly tightly planned so I wasn’t able to see everything.

 

We managed to see two separate ships- the M.33 &  H.M.S. Victory!

 

The H.M.S. Victory (what a name!) was the flagship of the Royal Navy for over 200 years! basically from when Lord Admiral Nelson chose it during the Napoleonic wars.

 

Nelson actually died on the ship in his most spectacular win- the Battle of Trafalgar that effectively won the seas for England against Napoleon. There’s even a plaque!

 

M.33 is one of the last surviving ships from WWI and was in the Gallipoli campaign.  Its main use was to provide cover for troops and to take out the major guns.

It was actually considered a “Lucky Ship” since nobody died on it (sadly, that was unlike many others).  The Gallipoli campaign was particularly bloody, mostly due to the commanders refusal to retreat.

 

This ship was particularly lucky for me because I got to see an old friend!  I used to work with Catherine back in Vancouver last year.  She moved to Portsmouth a bit before I came to London.  We were able to catch-up but unfortunately not long enough due to our tight schedule.

 

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Rating: 4/5

Pros: It’s constantly being updated, you can walk on real historical vessels, cool ticketing structure,  they’re making the galleries about more than war but of the navy lifestyle- not just soldiers but families and others.

Cons: Walking around some spaces is really difficult- the Victory isn’t built for anyone with mobility issues. Parts of the museum are all around the country so you need to book a lot of time to see it all! We certainly didn’t.