HMS Victory has been named after five ships in the history of the Royal Navy. The first was launched in 1559 and was the flagship of Sir John Hawkins' fleet, which in 1588 crushed the Spanish Grand Armada and thus ended the Spanish supremacy in the world's waters. Another ship bearing the glorious name of Victory was a vessel designed by Thomas Slade and launched on May 7, 1765. The armament of England's new pride consisted of 104 cannons: 32lb on the lower deck, 24lb on the middle, 12lb on the top, and finally huge 64lb barrels on the stern. The crew consisted of 850 sailors and officers. HMS Victory's combat trail was extremely colorful. In 1793, the ship took part in the operation to seize Toulon, and a year later in operations in the Corsica area. It was then, during the siege of Calvi, that Captain Horace Nelson lost his eye. In 1797, commanded by Admiral John Jervis, HMS Victory participated in the famous Battle of Cape St. Vincent, although there the main role was played by HMS Capitan, commanded by none other than ... Horace Nelson, already in the rank of commander. HMS Victory lived its day of glory on October 21, 1805 during one of the greatest naval engagements in history: the Battle of Trafalgar. The combined Spanish-French fleet was completely outmaneuvered thanks to the ingenious tactics of Horace Nelson: out of 33 ships, 18 were seized, 4 escaped but were found and destroyed within two weeks, the remaining heavily damaged ones managed to take refuge in Cadiz. Thanks to the crushing victory of the English, Napoleon's dreams of taking over the sea were shattered. However, the victory was hard to pay for - admiral Nelson was wounded during the clash from a musket shot and, shortly before the end of the battle, he died in his cabin at the stern of HMS Victory. The ship itself was completely refurbished after the battle and remained in service until 1812. In 1824, HMS Victory became the honorary flagship of the Portsmouth Fleet, and has remained so to this day. In 1922, it was decided to thoroughly renovate the ship in the Portsmouth docks, restoring her appearance from the Battle of Trafalgar, and then make it available to the public. Today, every year thousands of tourists admire one of the most famous ships that has ever sailed on the world's oceans.
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