The HMS Victory has survived the cannonballs of Napoleon's navy, being rammed by another warship, a World War II bomb, even UK navy plans to scrap her.
But nearly 260 years after it was launched, Victory - emblem of British maritime heritage and scene of naval hero Horatio Nelson's death during the Battle of Trafalgar is facing another equally deadly threat: the deathwatch beetle.
The 104-gun warship is undergoing a £45 million (just over Ri billion) refit, which is one of the biggest of its kind carried out.
Visited each year by over 350 000 people in Portsmouth Dockyard on England's southern coast, Victory's huge renovation follows the unwelcome discovery that much of the wooden structure was affected by rot.
This story is from the August 28, 2024 edition of The Citizen.
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This story is from the August 28, 2024 edition of The Citizen.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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