HMS Victory foremast removed in £42million conservation project

The foremast from HMS Victory has been safely removed in the first of a three-night operation, as the latest stage of a £42million conservation project began.A 750-tonne crane was used last night to lift the front mast from the 18th century warship and lay it down by her side at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.The mizzen (rear) and bowsprit (bow) will be removed over the next two days from Victory, which was Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar.Nelson led the British fleet to victory against the French and Spanish from Victory but was fatally shot by a French sniper on its quarterdeck on October 21, 1805.Victory was first floated out at Chatham in Kent in 1765. By the 1920s she was in poor condition and moved to dry dock in Portsmouth in 1922 where she remains today.