Q&A ยท 17:51-19:15

Ships of the line as twentieth-century training ships

How old ships of the line survived as school ships, including Victory, Implacable, and Wellesley.

Question

How extensively were old rated ships used for training, and which was the last?

Short answer

The panel gives no total, but identifies Victory as a wartime school ship and Implacable as probably the last ship of the line in active training use.

Notes

HMS Victory still supported lessons for young officers during the Second World War. HMS Implacable is offered as the likely last ship of the line still used actively for training, remaining in that role until 1949. HMS Wellesley provides a different endpoint because she survived from the sailing era but was sunk by enemy air attack in 1940. The answer therefore separates survival as a school ship from survival until a wartime loss.