Well in the Naval Dockyards anyway! One of the main aims of the trip was to visit Portsmouth, it's over 25 years since I last went, and a lot has changed.
After a few minutes wait to get in (under the watchful eyes of two Heckler and Koch armed Police) I paid the rather hefty £36 entry fee. The ticket is valid for a year and covers a lot though. The first shed I visited is a working repair area. They're working on various, mainly wooden, vessels with much of the work being by apprentices under supervision. We did wonder whether a couple of small boats were really being restored rather than rebuilt when they were mostly new timber (the answer is yes, as long as something is retained of the original).
The Victory now doesn't have guided tours, which does mean you don't have to book a time slot. I'm afraid the recorded audio guide is no substitute for me. I was very impressed with the way you're guided round the ship with no huge signs saying, "This Way!" A few other attractions could learn from this. I was reasonably quick, I've seen it before and I was trying to keep ahead of the crowds that had boarded just behind me.
Last time I was there the Mary Rose was in the early stages of preservation with little supporting display. That's fair enough, but all I can say now is wow! The new visitor centre is fantastic, with good interpretation and the artefacts cleverly displayed. You make your way through the "decks" with the opposite side to the ship being used to display the items as if they were on board. Mostly you're viewing the ship through glass but one level (accessed through airlocks) is open.
A couple of things that impressed me here, one is that photography (non-flash of course) is actively encouraged, with a few specific "good places" marked. Another was the provision of lightweight folding stools that you could carry around and return at the end. I could have done with those later in the day! I finished up in the tea shop for a coffee and scone (butter so no argument about which way round to put the Jan and cream).
From there I visited the Monitor Ship M33, these were relatively unimportant and not expected to last long so weren't named. It was basically built as a floating gun platform for the Dardanellescampaign, shallow drafted but with a second hand 6" gun at bow and stern - these were so powerful that only one could be fired at a time, if fired as a broadside they'd capsize the ship, fired fore and aft together they'd crush it. They were designed to fire in support of land infantry, not to fight other vessels.
M33 was used at Gallipoli, I'm not a fan of video interpretations but this one was very moving, giving a feel of the real horror of one of this country's military failures. No blame on the ship, in one 36 hour period they fired over 300 shells from the forward gun and at full rate could fire 10 shots a minute. The mechanism for closing and locking the breach at the rear is so intricate you can really believe this, although I suspect a good few fingers were lost when the loader wasn't quite quick enough. M33 was quickly known as a "lucky ship". Over the years it took 4 direct hits and survived, although the lack of any armour may have helped (shells went straight through without exploding).
I wandered through the museum itself and a couple of other smaller exhibitions before tackling the Warrior. That really could have done with the Victory approach to guide you round the ship as I'm sure there were parts I didn't find! They're currently working on a major restoration project as unfortunately water has come through the bulwarks and damaged the metal framing underneath. Modern materials are having to be used to make a visual repair that's not entirely historically accurate but should be long lasting. Using modern steels, replacing some wood with metal and rot resistant hardwood will make a huge difference to the long term life of the ship.
The final exhibition was about the Battle of Jutland. Although both sides claimed victory in this, the Pools Panel would have rated it a score draw, the Navy say it won us WW1. Its a difficult claim to assess but it did mean that the German High Seas Fleet returned to port and didn't venture out again until they mutinied and surrendered. The fleet was late scuppered at Scapa Flow. The was a lot of damage to the ships sunk at Jutland caused by commercial interests as the steel is free of nuclear radiation contaminants*, I believe the fleet at Scapa Flow is still being cut up for this but the ships from the battle are, in theory, protected by international treaties. As designated war graves British divers and companies are forbidden by law to damage them but there is no actual law covering others in international waters.
*Steel produced since Hiroshima/Nagasaki and the extensive testing of the 50s is contaminated and not suitable for use in various instruments.
After all that I decided I could either have lunch on site, probably adding another couple of £s to the car park bill or head off. I couldn't continue walking much longer. As it was a pay-on-the-way-back car park I didn't hang about and forgot to set up the SatNav. I swear the route I took, by accident, was a lot shorter and quicker than the way TomTom took me this morning! I'd got food to use up so a cheese roll and pie, eaten at a picnic area in the Bere Forest, sufficed.
I've still got more to do on the Dockyard ticket, there's certainly the Submarine Museum at Gosport so I may do that on Wednesday. Tomorrow it's back to the railways.
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