The Ship
History
Restoration
Hartlepool
Homecoming
Collection & Archive
Restoration - The Figurehead
The figurehead we see today is the third one, all to the same design, that Warrior has had during her lifetime. One of the last battleships to carry a figurehead, the original one was made in Portsmouth at a cost of £60, however it was lost in 1868 when Warrior accidentally collided with HMS Royal Oak with such a force that the figurehead’s head fell off to be claimed as a prize by the midshipmen on Royal
Oak’s quarterdeck.
James Hellyer of Portsmouth carved a replacement, which after Warrior went out of service was taken off her and displayed in Portsmouth Dockyard outside what is now the Mary Rose Museum. When the naval base at Northwood in Middlesex was due to be renamed Warrior in 1963 the figurehead was taken there, but the harsh winter of that year left it so damaged that it was quietly destroyed.
Using original sketches and photographs the present version was carved by Jack Whitehead and Norman Gaches in Cowes in the early 1980s. It was put on display at the 1983 International Boat Show in London and appeared on Blue Peter then, in August Warrior’s figurehead was brought to Portsmouth Dockyard and positioned outside No.5 Boathouse only a few yards from the site vacated by its predecessor 65 years previously. From that moment Warrior’s presence in Portsmouth was re-established.
The 12 feet high, three ton model stirred public interest. Donations poured in and many relations of former Warrior crew wrote in with original artefacts and invaluable information.
At the beginning of 1985 the figurehead was transported to Hartlepool before finally being put in place.
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