HMS Victory celebrates heroes and villains of fungus
Did you know that Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory, the oldest ship still commissioned by the Royal Navy, has traces of penicillin on board? Had the fungus’ life saving potential been discovered before the Battle of Trafalgar, history might have turned out very differently.
UK Fungus Day 2024 is the official celebration of all things fungal, organised by the British Mycological Society. To honour it, the team at HMS Victory has created a list of heroes and villains of fungus, all of which can be found or have been found, mostly in small amounts, on board the famous ship.
Young visitors to Victory Live: The Big Repair (the ten year project to conserve HMS Victory for future generations) at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard can now complete a Fungus Trail, identifying the heroes and villains hiding around the ship.
Jenna Taylor, Principal Conservator at The National Museum of the Royal Navy (which operates HMS Victory) commented: “What many people don’t realise about HMS Victory is that she’s a living ecosystem in her own right - as well as her significance to British history, she’s proving to be a fantastic research ground for fungus and insects.”
She continued: “It’s been a challenge in some areas of the ship, but it’s important to remember that not all fungus is bad - much of it in fact is essential for our survival and is the basis of everyday supplies, from medicine to beer, and beyond. We’re finding out so much about fungus onboard during The Big Repair - knowledge that we can share with conservation projects in the UK and globally.”
Sally Hawkes from the British Mycological Society, which organises UK Fungus Day, said “Life on earth simply wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for fungi, and via UK Fungus Day we want to celebrate that, and help people to understand more about our fungal world. Having the team at HMS Victory involved is a great way to get the message out there that fungus doesn’t have to be a bad thing - there are both heroes and villains at work on this magnificent ship.”
HMS Victory’s Top Four Fungus Heroes and Villains
Terry the Terror = known as ‘Teratosphaeria’
Terry the Terror is a type of fungus which can often be found on the leaves of plants, they can appear as spots. This fungus is a bit of a terror because if we left it to grow it would spread and this would eventually damage the material and structure of the wood on HMS Victory.
Penni Power = known as ‘Penicillium’
Penni is a pretty powerful micro-fungus which grows on board HMS Victory. You may have heard of her as she is the fungus that forms an antibiotic called ‘Penicillin’ which Doctors sometimes use to treat infections.
Shelly Shroom = Pleurotus ostreatus
Shelly Shroom is an oyster mushroom which can often be found growing on trees. Shelly’s superpower is that she can grow very very quickly! Sometimes overnight! On HMS Victory this is one of the challenges our conservation team face, and Shelly is regularly removed from the Middle Gun deck on the ship.
Sasha C= Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Sasha C is more commonly known as the ‘sugar fungus’ which is a common yeast strain used to make bread or beer. This fungus would have been seen as a hero when HMS Victory was out at sea because the crew needed to drink watered-down beer as part of their daily rations. Water was less reliable in the 18 and 19 centuries as it could get contaminated more easily which could lead to sickness. There would have been roughly 11,000 gallons of beer onboard HMS Victory, with each sailor getting 8 pints of low strength beer per day.
***The Fungus Heroes and Villains Trail runs on HMS Victory from 5th October 2024 - 3rd November 2024.
For more information, visit https://www.nmrn.org.uk/events/fungus-heroes-and-villains-childrens-trail