VICTORY at the Olympics – HMS VICTORY provided the historic backdrop as Olympic Flame passed through Portsmouth.     The flame was passed between torchbearers in the shadow of the great Man o’War as it moved through the Solent, (Fareham and Gosport) before crossing the harbour with a Royal Navy escort to visit Portsmouth.   The Patrol Boat EXPLOIT – which earlier in the weekend shepherded the flame across to the Isle of Wight when it took a Red Funnel ferry.    The flame, escorted by two World War Two motorboats, took passage of the ferry SPIRIT OF GOSPORT for 580 yard journey across the harbour from Gosport to Portsmouth.    From HMS VICTORY the torch made its way to a big event and cauldron lighting on Southsea Common.