Boats - Sailing - Ships
Aug. 08, 1960 - A gun silent for 150 years is fired for Navy Days visitors at Portsmouth: Twenty ships representing twelve different classes and fourteen exhibitions and displays are helping to make up the popular appeals at Portsmouth Navy Days. One of the displays was the period drill and firing of one of H.M.S. Victory's cannon. The gun used was an original, and research has shown that it had not fired a shot since the afternoon of 21st, October, 1805, at the Battle of Trafalgar, until trial firings early this year in preparation for Navy Days. Photo shows with Nelson's flagship Victory in the background, Royal Navy men, wearing the sailors dress of 1805, fire the cannon, using fibre glass to tamp the charge to eliminete fire risk during the display at Portsmouth yesterday
