Seven ships named Victory have carried the name in Royal Navy service, with the first being Sir John Hawkins' ship at the Battle of the Armada and the seventh, and current, HMS Victory having been the flagship of Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Both the first and the last have therefore saved England at a time of extreme peril. Nelson's Victory which is still in commission at Portsmouth as the flagship of the Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command, Vice Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent, is the main subject of this forthcoming book.