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Removing ‘ribs’ reveals secrets of how Nelson’s flagship was built
3 September 2025
Experts conserving Britain’s most famous warship have left their mark to celebrate reaching a milestone in her massive overhaul.
Conservators have fitted two thirds of HMS Victory’s ‘ribs’ – large curved timbers, each hand-crafted by experts – in the latest stage of the most comprehensive overhaul since she was turned into a museum over a century.
The work, which ensures Nelson’s former flagship is preserved into the final years of the 21st Century, is part of £42m of structural improvements being carried out over a decade.
With 50 futtocks to go, the 16-strong team of shipwrights decided it was the right time to leave their legacy, engraving their names on the teak before it was lowered into place on the starboard side of the hull.
Simon Williams, project manager for HMS Victory: The Big Repair, said the work to date had proved fascinating as shipwrights frequently came across insights into the work of their predecessors.
“We have found items that tie us to shipwrights who have worked on the ship in the past such as a payslip, a ruler and various shipwright timber marks, and it is now the turn of our shipwrights to leave their mark,” he explained.
“In doing this, we are demonstrating that Victory is so much more than the story of Nelson and Trafalgar, but about all the more people and events that have shaped her history and enabled her to survive.”
While removing the rotten timbers, the team have unearthed markings and instructions which helped the men who built Victory in the mid-18th Century complete what was at the time the most complex and powerful fighting machine in the world.
Rosemary Thornber, principal heritage advisor at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, believes the markings were used as part of a wider identification system to track the construction process.
“Now these marks serve as a tangible connection between the generations of skilled craftsmen who worked on the ship previously, and today's ongoing conservation efforts,” she added.
Once the remaining futtocks – which effectively act as Victory’s ribs – have been installed, the conservation team will focus on re-planking the hull from November.
The ship remains open to the public throughout the conservation programme – with access to visitors allowing them to observe some of the experts at work – which is not due to be completed until the early 2030s.