Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar, HMS Victory as it looks today. Photo: Jon Pratty © 24 Hour Museum.
Surgical instruments used onboard HMS Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar are at sea again on their way to take part in bicentenary commemorations of Nelson’s finest hour.
The box of saws, knives and forceps belonged to Ship’s Surgeon William Beatty who was on hand as Admiral Horatio breathed his last.
Back onboard a Royal Navy vessel after 200 years the instruments left their current owner, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Glasgow, on April 19 bound for HMS Victory in Portsmouth and London thereafter.
The college archivist, Carol Parry, told the 24 Hour Museum that transporting them by sea was a particularly appropriate way of sending them south.
"It does seem fitting," she said. "Nelson is the main guiding light in the Navy and to have Beatty’s instruments on board was considered to be incredibly exciting."
Beatty's instruments are among the earliest of their kind in existence. © Royal College Of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow.
Beatty’s tools are normally held at the college as part of a large collection of medical instruments dating back to the 18th century, but are being loaned to the National Maritime Museum (NMM) for its forthcoming Nelson & Napoleon exhibition.
The precious artefacts are being taken onboard Royal Navy Mine Counter Measures Vessel HMS Dulverton to HMS Victory for a commemorative ceremony on April 25. After that HMS Illustrious will ferry them up to the NMM.
Organised as part of SeaBritain, a year of celebrations to mark the bicentenary of Trafalgar, Nelson & Napoleon promises an in-depth investigation into the minds of these two great leaders. It will also offer a rare opportunity to see a range of artefacts, including William Beatty’s surgical instruments.
Made by a family business, Laundy of London, the instruments are among the earliest and most valuable examples of their kind in existence. The set is still in its original box and contains a screw torniquet, an amputation knife with detachable handles, a fine-toothed bow saw and forceps.
Roy Miller, honorary librarian at the Royal College, examining the instruments before their sea voyage. © Royal College Of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow.
The loan, said Carol Parry, is "great from the college’s point of view because we are not a museum and other people will get the opportunity to see them."
William Beatty was born in Londonderry in 1773 and joined the Navy as a junior surgeon in 1791 at the age of 18. He saw service in the Caribbean, North Sea, Mediterranean and North Atlantic before his appointment as Ship’s Surgeon on HMS Victory in 1804.
At the Battle of Trafalgar Beatty would have dealt with only the most dangerous cases and his list of injured and wounded from the day makes for particularly gruesome reading.
Of the ship’s 815 men, 57 were killed and 102 wounded with Beatty himself called upon to perform the amputation of nine arms and two legs.
However, Beatty was also called upon to attend to a stricken Horatio Nelson: "He realised once he’d been injured that he was a goner," said Carol Parry, "so all he could do was keep an eye on him. He knew there was no hope."
Beatty and his colleagues worked below the waterline on the day of the battle in stifling conditions and at constant risk from enemy cannon fire. Photo: Jon Pratty © 24 Hour Museum.
Once he pronounced him dead, Beatty preserved Nelson’s body in a barrel of brandy for the long journey back to Portsmouth where he finally performed a post mortem.
It was then, as Carol explained, that he took a souvenir of his time with the much-treasured admiral: "What he did once he got back," she said, "was he actually extracted the fatal shot, had it encased and kept it as a momento."
Nelson & Napoleon is on show at the National Maritime Museum from July 7 until November 13 2005.
For more information about SeaBritain 2005, have a look at the specially created website and for more information about the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons instrument collection, click here.
