HMS Victory – Portsmouth Dockyard

Over many decades, WL West Timber have supplied timber for the ongoing restoration of HMS Victory. We were approached in 2016 to undertake a beam survey on the Orlop deck. The Orlop deck is the lowest deck and the one where Lord Nelson was taken after being shot prior to dying.

The beams run Port to Starboard (left to right for the landlubbers amongst us) and tie the sides of the ship together and hold up the deck above. Over the years the beams have deteriorated and this necessitated repairs. Some beams had to be re-attached to the sides of the ship, and to do this we had 166 high quality Stainless Steel coach bolts manufactured by Technifast Ltd. These coach bolts ranged from 250mm long to 750mm long. They were designed and installed by our craftsmen.

Some of the beams required the ends replacing. This entailed cutting the decayed part out, having supported the part of the beam being retained, and scarfing a new piece of oak beam into the ship.

The project was very successful and we are very proud to still be part of the ongoing restoration of the oldest commissioned warship in the world. Currently we are involved in supplying oak for their major, long-term hull re-planking project.