Deathwatch beetle continuing to cause problems onboard HMS Victory as restoration project continues

Efforts are being made to preserve the ship by tackling the beetles. Credit: ITV Meridian

The deathwatch beetle is continuing to cause problems onboard HMS Victory, as she goes through a multi-year restoration project.

The flagship vessel, used by Nelson himself, is being painstakingly restored and preserved, but teams say they are being hampered by the beetle's fierce appetite.

It's estimated there are more than ten thousand of the creatures onboard, and their larvae are now posing a separate problem.

A fungus is being cleared from the vessel daily, and it's thought that the larvae could be to blame for its growth.

HMS Victory played a major role in the Battle of Trafalgar, during the Napoleonic Wars

Andrew Baines, who is a project lead for the restoration, told ITV Meridian they are exploring new ways of removing the beetles from the ships' woodwork.

They have been battling the insect for years, and their eating habits are now putting some of the oldest and most historic plans at risk.

"We have material that is what we would describe as significant here", Mr Baines said. "The stuff Nelson would have been walking around on.

"We have the problem that it has been attacked for decades by insects, by deathwatch beetles.

"They lay their eggs and then spend 4, 5, 6, 7 years eating the timber away, about 3 cubic centimetres a year, and then fly away and repeat the cycle.

"So as you can imagine tens of thousands of the beatles eating that wood every single year, that oak is just evaporating away in front of us.

"So we have got to find a way to remove those beatles, and stop them being a problem, whilst restoring and preserving that historic timber."

Andrew Baines explains why the beatles are causing such a problem.

As part of the project, engineers are assessing the performance of nine different types of caulking and glue and five paint systems.

Rotting planks will be removed from the hull and replace with new oak, with repairs made to the ship's structural framework.

The project which aims to preserve the vessel for future generations, will cost around 35 million pounds when finished.

It's hoped it will renew its integrity for the next 50 years, so more people can witness the vessel and learn about its importance in history.

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