Putting HMS Victory to the torch

A replica of Horatio Nelson's warship HMS Victory is being painstakingly assembled - so it can be set on fire.

The [120 foot long] model is being created by 40 volunteers in Devon, including a relative of the ship's cabin boy. It will be torched for charity in August to mark the Battle of Trafalgar's 200th anniversary.

From the BBC. I'm not sure about the point of this -- is it supposed to be a sort of emblematic pyre? Maybe I'm missing something, but as a symbol it just seems wrong. Maybe burning Boney in effigy was just too un-PC.

Posted by David on December 30, 2004 1:16 PM