Summary

Bronze ship's bell from H.M.V.S. Nelson, 1814.

Launched in 1814 and named after a British naval hero Lord Horatio Nelson, the "Nelson" was originally a three-deck warship. She was later reduced to two-decks (1859-1860) and finally to a single-deck (1878-1881). In 1854 she was provided with an auxiliary steam engine driving a single-screw.

In the late 1860s the British Admiralty agreed to provide the "Nelson" to the Government of Victoria as a permanent loan subject to the condition that she only be used as a training ship and confined to Port Phillip Bay. She arrived at Hobsons Bay on 4 February 1868 and was first used as a reformatory vessel and later as a training ship for the Victorian Naval Brigade. The ensign of the new Victorian Navy was first flown from her deck on 9 March 1870. She was armed with six 12-pounder Howitzers, two old 68-pounders converted into rifled 150-pounders, twenty 32-pounders and twenty converted (rifled) 64-pounders.

She was modified to a single-deck, single-masted fighting ship for the Victorian Colonial Navy in 1881.

In 1891 she was removed from naval service and later sold. After further modification, she spent her final days as a coal lighter, coal storage and coal hulk before before being scrapped in 1920.

Physical Description

Bronze bell with red painted crown. Has a cut extending from the lip to the waist and then diagonally across to the towards the crown. This special crack type cut is for tuning purposes. Weight 63.5 kg. Height 330 mm (13 inches). Maximum diameter 444 mm (17.5 inches).

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