‘Protected for another century’: experts lift 15-tonne foremast from HMS Victory

Preparations for the work on the HMS Victory foremast last week at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Photograph: National Museum Royal Navy/PAView image in fullscreenPreparations for the work on the HMS Victory foremast last week at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Photograph: National Museum Royal Navy/PAHeritage‘Protected for another century’: experts lift 15-tonne foremast from HMS VictoryIn latest stage of £42m restoration project, 30-strong team removed mast from Nelson’s Battle of Trafalgar flagshipSteven MorrisTue 28 Apr 2026 04.04 EDTLast modified on Tue 28 Apr 2026 04.05 EDTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleThere is only one correct way to extricate a 15-tonne wrought iron mast from one of the world’s most famous and beloved warships – very slowly, and with extreme care.Which is precisely what a 30-strong team, led by shipwrights and riggers, did on Monday night into Tuesday morning, when they lifted the foremast from HMS Victory as part of a £42m conservation project.A 750-tonne crane removed the 23-metre mast from the ship, an operation requiring power to lift the wrought iron structure but also a great deal of delicacy to make sure that the fabric of the vessel was not harmed.In the coming days – as long as the wind does not get up – two more masts, the mizzen and bowsprit, will also be craned off Nelson’s 18th-century flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar and laid on a Portsmouth dockside ready for conservation work to begin.View image in fullscreenStuart Sheldon, lead rigger, and Angela Middleton, head of conservation, preparing for the lift. Photograph: Matt SillsAt daybreak on Tuesday, Patrizia Pierazzo, deputy project director, hailed it a “great start”. He said: “The team worked through some initial challenges but overall, the lift process was undertaken safely, and we now have the foremast securely removed from the ship.”Andrew Baines, executive director of museum operations at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, admitted he had been a little anxious. “I think you’re always nervous when you’re dealing with something like Victory, which is a 250-year-old structure that’s been knocked about over the years.“These masts have not always been maintained as well as they might have been. We’re lifting historic wrought iron structures out of a very important timber historic structure. So it’s fairly complex.”View image in fullscreenSheldon on the foremast of HMS Victory. Photograph: Matt SillsBaines said the masts were strong and designed to carry the force of large spreads of canvas. But he likened the lift to someone being yanked up by the hair. “And then swung from the vertical to the horizontal. They haven’t sat in the horizontal for 130 years.”About 30 people worked on the operation overnight, and double that number, including archeologists, structural engineers and conservators, are involved overall.Baines said: “There’s six months of planning gone into this process, refining and perfecting and making sure those risks to fabric have been reduced to a level as low as reasonably practical and risk to life has really been eliminated.”View image in fullscreenA 750-tonne crane carefully removed the 23-metre mast. Photograph: Matt SillsThe ship’s main mast was removed in 2021 at the start of the restoration of the whole ship, which is being billed as the Big Repair. Once all the masts are down a huge scaffolding structure will encase the vessel and remain in place until the conservation project ends in 2033.Victory’s…

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