HMS Warrior 1860
TOP DECK
Once onboard, you really feel like you have been thrown back to the 19th century and the crew have just popped out to have a bite to eat. Everything has been left as you imagine it would have been during active service, the guns are ready for action, the rigging wriggles in the breeze and although the ship feels as sturdy beneath you as the solid ground, you feel as if she could leap into action at a moment’s notice. In a word she feels…powerful. Warrior is a beautiful ship and one can spend hours marvelling at the way she has been built and the intricacies of her fitments.
Here are two views astern, the City of Portsmouth lies ahead.
Two views of her midsection, covered launches sit amidst the funnels and the mighty masts. Apart from those areas being worked on, normally no part of the top deck is out of bounds to visitors. You can even climb the upper walkways to look down on the deck below.
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Here’s a close-up of the funnels, and another of some of the miles and miles of rope essential to the operation of the warship. Everything is polished and gleaming as if ready for inspection.
Warrior’s main masts are 65 feet high. Warrior and her sister ship were unique for iron-hulled warships in that they still had wooden masts like their predecessors. Later iron-hulled warships would also have iron masts. The second picture shows one of the upper compasses to steer the vessel by.
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