Who was responsible for the loss of HMS Victory?
After Balchin’s Victory perished with approximately 1,100 sailors and others on board, blame for the loss would have been laid upon Admiral Balchin, his officers and the Alderney lighthouse keeper. It was presumed that Balchin and his officers were at fault due to poor navigation, while the lighthouse keeper was accused of failing in his duty to keep the lights on, thereby contributing to the tragedy. However, the recent discovery of the actual location of the wreck site demonstrates that neither Sir John Balchin nor the lighthouse keeper was at fault. Rather, the culprit was most likely Mother Nature – a fierce storm that proved stronger than even the mightiest vessel of the era. But the Victory’s construction and design probably also contributed to the loss. Some research suggests that British shipwrights had been failing to store timbers appropriately during this period. As a consequence, it is believed that a generation of warships was constructed with timbers that were prone to ro
