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For other ships with the same name, see List of ships named HMS Victory.

HMS Victory at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Victory
Ordered	14 July 1758
Builder	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down	23 July 1759
Launched	7 May 1765 (1765-05-07)
Commissioned	1778
In service	246 years
Homeport	Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, England 50°48′07″N 1°06′35″W
Honours and awards	Participated in: First Battle of Ushant (1778) Second Battle of Ushant (1781) Battle of Cape Spartel (1782) Battle of the Hyères Islands (1795) Battle of Cape St Vincent (1797) Battle of Trafalgar (1805)
Status	Active Flagship of the First Sea Lord
General characteristics
Class and type	104-gun first-rate ship of the line
Displacement	3,500 Long ton (3,556 tonnes)
Tons burthen	2,142 bm
Length	186 ft (57 m) (gundeck), 227 ft 6 in (69.34 m) (overall)
Beam	51 ft 10 in (15.80 m)
Draught	28 ft 9 in (8.76 m)
Depth of hold	21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
Propulsion	Sails—6,510 sq yd (5,440 m2)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Speed	up to 11 knots (20 km/h)
Complement	Approximately 850
Armament	Trafalgar: Gundeck: 30 × 2.75-ton long pattern Blomefield 32-pounders (15 kg) Middle gundeck: 28 × 2.5-ton long 24-pounders (11 kg) Upper gundeck: 30 × 1.7-ton short 12-pounders (5 kg) Quarterdeck: 12 × 1.7-ton short 12-pounder (5 kg) Forecastle: 2 × medium 12-pounder (5 kg), 2 × 68-pounder (31 kg) carronade
Notes	Height from waterline to top of mainmast: 205 ft (62.5 m)

HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate wooden sailing ship of the line. With 246 years of service as of 2024, she is the world's oldest naval vessel still in commission. She was ordered for the Royal Navy in 1758, during the Seven Years War and laid down in 1759. That year saw British victories at Quebec, Minden, Lagos and Quiberon Bay and these may have influenced the choice of name when it was selected in October the following year. In particular, the action in Quiberon Bay had a profound affect on the course of the war; severely weakening the French Navy and shifting its focus away from the sea. There was therefore no urgency to complete the ship and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in February 1763, meant that when Victory was finally floated out in 1765, she was placed in ordinary. Her construction had taken 6,000 trees, 90% of them oak.

Victory was first commissioned in March 1778 during the American Revolutionary War, seeing action at the First Battle of Ushant in 1778, shortly after France had openly declared her support for Britain's rebel colonies in North America, and the Second Battle of Ushant in 1781. After taking part in the relief of Gibraltar in 1782, Victory, and the fleet she was sailing with, encountered a combined Spanish and French force at the Battle of Cape Spartel. Much of the shot from the allied ships fell short and the British, with orders to return to the English Channel, did not bother to reply. This was her last action of the war; hostilities ended in 1783 and Victory was placed in ordinary once more.

In 1787, Victory was ordered to be fitted for sea following a revolt in the Netherlands but the threat had subsided before the work had been completed. She was ready for the Nootka Crisis and Russian Armament in 1790 but both events were settled before she was called into action. When the French Revolutionary War broke out, Victory became the flagship of Admiral Samuel Hood, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. She was at the occupation of Toulon

Victory is best known for her role as Horatio Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. She had previously served as Keppel's flagship at Ushant, Howe's flagship at Cape Spartel and Jervis's flagship at Cape St Vincent. After 1824, she was relegated to the role of harbour ship. In 1922, she was moved to a dry dock at Portsmouth, England, and preserved as a museum ship. She has been the flagship of the First Sea Lord since October 2012.