The Mary Rose

The Mary Rose was the pride of King Henry VIII's navy. He named her Mary for the Virgin Mary and his favorite sister Mary, and Rose for the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York, which were both incorporated into the Tudor rose, which is both red and white. (Confused yet? Try reading a book about the War of the Roses, the war that put Henry VIII's father on England's throne.) Anyway, the Mary Rose sank off the coast of England. Half of it was rediscovered and raised to be carefully preserved, and many artifacts from the ship are now on display in the museum. (That link says there's no evidence the ship was named after Henry's sister, but I definitely remember reading at the museum that he named the ship after his sister... Hm. Another mystery of history.)

Wax replica of Henry VIII

And this is Hatch - the skeleton of the dog the crew found in a hatch.

HMS Victory Part II

Let's see how much nautical terminology I can remember...

Officers' Mess

Nelson's sword

Officer's board room

Nelson's uniform

I love the cannons in the personal cabins.

The galley

...Not that much.

HMS Victory - Part I

More than one part? Well, I think everyone's tired of me uploading posts too big to load easily. HMS Victory was the flagship of the great Admiral Nelson, who led the British to victory against France in the naval battle of Trafalgar. This victory effectively forced every other fleet on earth to return to their harbors, and the British really ruled the waves.

I completely lucked out and got there on the 250th anniversary of the ship's launch - I had no idea until the guy who checked my ticket told me. One of the masts had been taken off for repairs, so it's missing from the pictures, but the ship still looks pretty amazing nonetheless:

Aside from being a famous commander's flagship, Victory is also the oldest commissioned ship in the British navy. Meaning, even though she doesn't sail or fight anymore, she's still part of the navy and still has a commanding officer. I knew that prior to reaching Portsmouth, but even so, the plaque below brought tears to my eyes: