Figurehead of H.M.S. Victory in 1805 during the Battle of Trafalgar, 1912 (colour litho)

The Victory’s figure-head, the Royal coat of arms of Great Britain, supported by a sailor on one side and a marine (illustrated here in this reconstruction) on the other, was struck by shot, which carried away the legs of the soldier and the arm of the sailor, and the legend states that all the men who lost legs in the action were marines, and those who lost arms sailors; the figure-head today on view in Portsmouth still contains the coat of arms but the wounded supporters have been replaced by two cherubs; from a series of illustrations of ship's figureheads produced as cigarette cards by Players;