[Sir Edward Reed said that with the armoured citadel intact, and an unarmoured end destroyed, the ship is in imminent danger of upsetting. The Victoria was bound to capsize with the injury she received. There were other ships that were equally bound to capsize, when they were injured in the same manner; the reason being that instead of the armed citadel being the major part of the structure, and the unarmoured ends the minor portion, we had chosen to make the unarmoured ends the major part, measuring more than half the entire length of the ship. The ships likely to capsize in a similar manner, if they received like injury in peace or in action, were the Agamemnon, Ajax, Anson, Benbow, Camperdown, Collingwood, Colossus, Edinburgh, Howe, Inflexible, Rodney, and Sans Pareil.]
Air—"Hearts of Oak."
Come, cheer up, my lads! 'tis to Davy we steer!
(We add to his Locker 'bout one ship per year.)
To capsizing we call you in cheeriest staves,
For what is so certain as death 'neath the waves?
Iron coffins our ships,
Death-doomed tars are our men.
Our ships are unsteady!
Ready, aye ready!