Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull model of the 120-gun three-decker HMS ‘Nelson’ (1814). Built in ‘bread and butter’ fashion, the hull is finished with minimal fittings including channels and a full set of launching flags. It is complete with its original display case which incorporates a draw at the stern end, which when pulled out, reveals an extended slipway. By turning a handle at the opposite end of the case, the model can be launched down the slipway to simulate how a ship of this size is launched. During the late 19th century when this model was on public display in the Anson Room of the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich, an attendant gave regular demonstrations of its operation. There is a painted wooden plaque on the case, which reads ‘H.M.S. NELSON 120 GUNS. LAUNCHED AT WOOLWICH 1814. PRESENTED BY ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES CUNNINGHAM’.

The ‘Nelson’ was one of the largest British sailing warships of this period and it incorporated Sir Robert Sepping’s newly invented round bow, replacing the old square beak-head bulkhead, and gave additional strength allowing the guns to be mounted further forward. Other notable improvements include the heavy square-ended bulwarks above the upper deck, which gave better protection to the gun crews on deck.

Launched at the Royal Dockyard Woolwich in 1814, the ‘Nelson’ measured 206 feet along the gun deck by 54 feet in the beam with a tonnage of 2601 burthen. Unfortunately, because it was launched at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the ‘Nelson’ did not see any active service. In 1859, it was converted to steam and reduced to 74 guns. In 1867, it was given to the colony of Victoria, Australia as a training ship and eventually sold for breaking up in 1898.