A group of 26 CamSoc members travelled down to Portsmouth on a beautiful blue-sky day for an afternoon and evening exploring our maritime heritage through two great warships, the Mary Rose and HMS Victory.
The Commanding Officer of HMS Victory, Lieutenant Commander BJ Smith, personally led our comprehensive tour of the Ship, the oldest commissioned warship in the world and the flagship of the First Sea Lord. Lt Cdr Smith’s intimate knowledge of the Victory and Her campaign history gave us a fascinating insight into this historic Ship and the lives of those who served on-board, including of course Admiral Nelson.
We then moved on to the Mary Rose Museum, recently opened to display the restored hull and artefacts after almost 35 years of conservation work. Cambridge alumnus Chris Dobbs (Trinity Hall 1976), who was the Diving Archaeological Supervisor on the salvage project and is now the Head of Interpretation & Maritime Archaeology for The Mary Rose Trust, opened the evening with a lecture summarising the entire project from the sinking of the Ship, its rediscovery and salvage and finally the restoration process. Then Chris’s team of experts guided us around the museum, bringing to life the enormous range of the crew’s personal artefacts recovered from the wreck.
Overall an excellent day made especially unique by having Lt Cdr Smith and Chris join us to share their passion and deep knowledge.
We are very grateful to Society members Royal Navy Commander Adrian Balhetchet and Committee member Dave Hughes for arranging the event.
Organised by Dave Hughes and Adrian Balhetchet