HMS Victory Rocks!

Keith Richards is more used to being snapped on the stage of international arenas and stadiums, but he kindly took time out to pose for a photo on the gangway of HMS Victory as he visited Portsmouth Historic Dockyard with his family yesterday (27th July).

A founding member of The Rolling Stones, Keith Richards, named as the “10th great guitarist of all time” (Rolling Stone Magazine, 2003) said that he had a brilliant time visiting Nelson’s flagship and had been keen to go onboard having remembered seeing it on a school trip.

Spokeswoman for Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Melissa Gerbaldi said “there was a real buzz on the site once we knew that he was paying us a visit. It’s not every day you have the chance to meet a rock legend and he was very charming and down to earth with a real interest in all the attractions we have within the Historic Dockyard.”

Keith briefly chatted to Melissa about how he grew up reading C. S. Forester''s novels about Horatio Hornblower and then later Patrick O’Brian’s novels on which ‘Master and Commander’ was based. He was also proud of having starred in two of the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ films as Captain Jack Sparrow’s father (Captain Teague). Johnny Depp is also reported to have based many of his character’s mannerisms on Keith Richards.

He was thoroughly impressed by the sheer magnificence of the ship as he approached the arena and the intricacies of the rigging, having read about the restoration work currently taking place on the top masts.

Following a private tour of the ship, Keith posed for photos with guests at a function in the National Museum of the Royal Navy opposite, as well as sign autographs for delighted staff.

This isn’t the first time that a rock star has been keen to visit the site, last year Aerosmith’s guitarist Joe Perry also visited and posted a blog saying ‘Visited Admiral Nelson’s ship yesterday, it was a dream come true.’ He also posted a photo of himself standing proudly in front the ship.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

IN HIS recent screen role as a pirate captain in the hit Pirates of the Caribbean movies, legendary Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards was trying to avoid the Royal Navy.

But in real life the mega-star is an avid history buff, and made a private visit to see Admiral Lord Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory.

The 67-year-old contacted the Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth to ask if they could arrange for him to have a look around outside regular visiting hours.

And the notoriously hard-living guitarist, known for hits such as Satisfaction, Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Paint It Black, proved to be anything but hard work during the visit with his family on Wednesday.

Dockyard spokeswoman Melissa Gerbaldi got to meet him and chat about his interest in all things navy, how he grew up reading CS Forester’s novels about Horatio Hornblower and then later Patrick O’Brian’s novels on which the blockbuster film Master and Commander was based.

Miss Gerbaldi said: ‘There was a real buzz on the site once we knew that he was paying us a visit. It’s not every day you have the chance to meet a rock legend. He had a real interest in all the attractions we have within the Historic Dockyard.’

He was reportedly left impressed by the intricacies of the rigging, having read about the restoration work taking place on the top masts.

Miss Gerbaldi added: ‘It was out of hours, but there was a function on in the museum opposite, so those lucky people got to meet him as well.

‘He was absolutely charming, very friendly and approachable.

‘He was stopping to say hello and taking time to talk to everyone and signing autographs.

‘I was trying to be professional and not be too fan-like, but it was difficult.’

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Richards is not the only member of rock royalty to be fascinated by HMS Victory.

Last year Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry made a low-key visit – he later posted a picture of himself in front of the ship on his blog, calling it ‘a dream come true.’