HMS Victory Fore-Topsail

Cleaning and research in preparation for display

Project undertaken by the Textile Conservation Centre in 2005

Presentation prepared by Dr Paul Garside and Kate Gill,

Textile Conservation CentrePictures by kind permission of the Commanding Officer of HMS Victory

Lt Cdr D J ‘Oscar’ Wild RN

HMS Victory Fore-Topsail

Cleaning and research inpreparation for display

2005

Conservation Team: Robin Bastian, Tamara Frost, Kate Gill*, Michelle Harper, Anne Kvitvang, Mamiko Matsumura, Amber Rowe, Karen Thompson*project manager

Research Team: Dr Paul Wyeth, Dr Paul Garside

The Sailhead

foot

24 m

17 m

The sail is constructed from bolts of linen (flax) cloth(each roughly two feet wide), running from head to foot.

The edge is strengthened with hemp rope.

Yarn samples were taken from areas of pre-existing damage on the Victory sail, along with one loose fabric section.

Samples and SurrogatesYarn samples were taken from areas of pre-existing damage

on the Victory sail, along with one loose fabric section.

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Mechanical Testing – Breaking Load

Tenacity (cN.tex-1) – breaking load per unit linear density.

Mechanical Testing – Slippage

Testing

.

.

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fixed pins

moveable pins

appliedload

sailcloth

Slippage tests measure the way in which the sailclothstretches – both temporarily and permanently –

as a load is applied to it.

Mechanical Testing – Slippage

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

0 2 4 6 8 10

Load / kg

Ext

ensi

on /

%

Overall Conclusions

• The sail possesses enough residual strength to support its own weight.

• However if allowed to do so it will undergo a permanent deformation.

Therefore, both the direct assessment by the conservators and the results of the mechanical

testing support the conclusion that:

• The sail should ideally be fully supported horizontally or at shallow angle.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Lt. Cdr. Frank Nowosielski (Commanding Officer, HMS Victory) for giving us the

opportunity to work on such a fascinating project and the Society for Nautical Research and the Ministry of

Defence for supporting the work.

We are also indebted to Colin Appleyard (Hood Sailmakers), Peter Goodwin (Keeper and Curator, HMS

Victory), Mark Jones (Head of Collections, MRASL), Alun Vaughan (ECS, University of Southampton) and

colleagues at the Textile Conservation Centre and the AHRC Research Centre for Textile Conservation and

Textile Studies, particularly Nell Hoare, Amber Rowe and Dr Paul Wyeth.