royal yacht britannia hospital ship

Britannia and beyond: a history of royal yachts

In the opening episode of The Crown ’s newest season, the drama portrays Queen Elizabeth II’s consternation as she slowly says goodbye to her beloved yacht, the Britannia . Rhiannon Davies considers the history of the royal vessel and the traditions of monarchs at sea…

• Rhiannon Davies
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When guessing which royal home allowed the Queen to “truly relax”, the ivy-clad Balmoral or the handsome façade of Sandringham Palace might spring to mind. However, it was another – floating – residence that the Queen felt most comfortable in: her royal yacht, HMY Britannia .

This yacht features in the opening episode of the fifth season of The Crown . With the Britannia in need of a multi-million pound refurbishment, the Queen (played by Imelda Staunton) asks prime minister John Major (Johnny Lee Miller) if the government will bear the eye-watering costs. She puts forward a powerful plea, explaining: “From the design of the hull to the smallest piece of china, she is a floating, seagoing expression of me.”

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When was the first royal yacht?

The tradition of a royal yacht stretches back to 1660, when Charles II became England’s king. To mark his return to the throne, his Dutch allies gave him an extravagant gift: a yacht called the Mary .

As well as being built for speed, she was also designed with opulence in mind. “To give it the more lustre”, the ship’s exterior was “richly gilt” and “some of the best painters of the country” helped decorate its interior.

Read more about the history behind each episode of The Crown season 5:

• The Crown S5 E1: ‘Queen Victoria Syndrome’ and a second honeymoon
• The Crown S5 E2: Prince Philip’s ‘keeper of secrets’ and Andrew Norton’s book on Princess Diana
• The Crown S5 E3: exiled royals and the al-Fayeds
• The Crown S5 E4: the Queen’s “annus horribilis” and Princess Margaret’s relationship with Peter Townsend
• The Crown S5 E5 real history: ‘Camillagate’ tapes and a “war council” for the monarchy’s survival
• The Crown  S5 E6 real history: the Romanovs’ murder, and Philip’s “spiritual companionship”
• The Crown  S5 E7 real history: the introduction of Martin Bashir, and a royal education
• The Crown S5 E8 real history: Diana’s Panorama interview causes fireworks
• The Crown S5 E9 real history: the divorce settlement between Charles and Diana

Rather than relaxing on her decks, Charles used the Mary as a racing vessel before donating her to the Royal Navy. Her career ended abruptly in 1675, however, when she hit a rock in the treacherous Skerries – a cluster of islands near Northern Ireland, where many ships have been pulled below the waves.

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Although the ship met a tragic fate, she started a tradition among the monarchy – since the Mary , there have been 82 royal yachts. As well as providing space for monarchs to relax from the stresses of ruling, they also had a practical purpose – deployment on diplomatic missions. Their role was especially important before the arrival of aeroplanes, as monarchs or British delegates could only reach other nations by sea.

While these vessels became a time-honoured tradition, they also moved with the times. The Victoria and Albert – one of Queen Victoria ’s ships – was the first royal yacht in Britain to be fitted with a steam-propelled engine, meaning it could cruise along at 11.5 knots.

• Read more | Queen Victoria and Prince Albert: what was their relationship like?

When Queen Elizabeth’s father, George VI , came to the throne in 1936, a royal yacht that Queen Victoria had lobbied to build – also called the Victoria and Albert – was still in service. However, it was decommissioned three years later, with its bronze-and-black hull starting to crumble.

When was HMY Britannia commissioned?

In 1952 George laid plans for a new yacht to replace the Victoria and Albert . She was to be named HMY Britannia (although this name was kept secret until her launch), and could be transformed into a hospital ship if the country was again plunged into war: the laundry room could be converted into a ward, and the main veranda doubled as a helicopter landing pad.

Tragically, a mere two days after Scotland’s John Brown shipyard received the order, the king passed away . But the shipyard still pressed on with making his plans for HMY Britannia a reality. Now, though, the new monarch, Elizabeth, was at the helm. She and Prince Philip altered the original plans, which they feared were too opulent, considering Britain was still rebuilding itself after the horrors of the Second World War .

However, it still had some extravagant touches. The yacht had a bespoke garage, so Elizabeth’s Rolls-Royce Phantom V could be brought aboard. (Later, Elizabeth stopped bringing her Phantom, which needed to have its bumpers removed so it would fit into the tight space, and the garage was used to store beer instead.)

• Read more | Where is The Crown filmed? The Netflix drama’s locations and their royal links

Elizabeth and Philip both had their own bedrooms, bathrooms and living spaces, which they designed to reflect their personal tastes – the Queen favoured florals, while Philip opted for dark timber. The couple also ensured a piece of maritime history made its way onboard: Philip had saved the teak binnacle (the housing for a compass) from one of Queen Victoria’s royal yachts, and it was incorporated into Britannia ’s design.

When did royal yacht Britannia launch?

Taking a little over a year to build, the ship was launched in April 1953 – shortly before the Queen’s coronation. With champagne still being seen as too luxurious for launching ships in the wake of the war, Elizabeth smashed a bottle of wine into Britannia ’s hull instead and proclaimed: “I wish success to her and all who sail in her”.

The Queen’s wish seems to have been granted. Over her 44 years of service, the Britannia made more than 700 journeys to countries in the Commonwealth and beyond, travelling around 1.1m miles. Many luminaries stepped aboard her deck, with political heavyweights from Winston Churchill and Boris Yeltsin to Nelson Mandela enjoying delicious banquets in the lavish State Dining Room.

Aside from diplomacy, the ship also became a royal honeymoon spot, with four newlywed couples choosing to take a romantic cruise on Britannia . Princess Margaret was the first to make use of the so-called ‘honeymoon suite’ when she and the Earl of Snowdon enjoyed a Caribbean cruise in 1960. Most famously, Prince Charles and Princess Diana sailed on the ship in 1981, when they toured the Mediterranean for their honeymoon – Charles brought a double bed onto the yacht during their trip, as all of the bedrooms had single beds.

It was also the site of many family summer holidays, with the Western Isles tour being a particular favourite. This was a relaxed jaunt around the western islands of Scotland, when the royals could enjoy barbeques and play games. Sometimes one of the ship’s staircases would even be turned into a waterslide, for the young royals to splash down.

• Read more | Royal historian Tracy Borman on the real events behind The Crown season 5

However, by the 1990s the ship was starting to deteriorate, and it was decided that “the costs were too great” to refurbish her. 1994 saw the announcement that the Britannia would be decommissioned; three years later, the Queen walked off her deck for the last time, shedding a tear at the yacht’s fate. Today the ship is a visitor attraction, docked in the port of Leith.

Although plans were discussed for another yacht to replace her, the world in 1997 was totally different to the one of 1952: air travel now reigned supreme, and Britain had lost its empire. The country was being steered in a different direction – one where a royal yacht no longer seemed necessary.

A former BBC History Magazine section editor, Rhiannon has long been fascinated by history and continues to write for HistoryExtra.com. She has appeared on the award-winning HistoryExtra podcast, interviewing experts on a variety of subjects, from Lucy Worsley discussing Agatha Christie to Sir Ranulph Fiennes on the perils of polar exploration

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The Story Behind the Royal Family's Yacht, Britannia

The ship hosted four royal honeymoons in its 44 years of service.

Often referred to as the last royal yacht, the Britannia was decommissioned in 1997, and despite some efforts , there are no signs of a new one in the near future. Though its seafaring days may be behind it (the ship now serves as a tourist attraction in Edinburgh, Scotland), the Britannia remains an important artifact and a peek behind the curtain of royal life—it even garnered a prominent place in the fifth season of The Crown . Below, a few of its most notable moments throughout history.

It was the first royal yacht designed for ocean travel.

The ship was built by John Brown & Co at the same shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland in the same location the famous ocean liners the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary were constructed. With 12,000 horsepower, the ship could travel at a maximum 22.5 knots (approximately 25 miles per hour), ideal for ocean-going diplomacy. Prior to its launch in 1953, the royal family used ships from the Royal Navy or even passenger liners for the overseas portions of the royal tour.

In its 44 years of service, the HMY Britannia traveled around 1.1 million miles.

It was commissioned just two days before the death of King George VI.

The King was already in failing health by the time the designs for the HMY Britannia were submitted, and the hope was that traveling might help alleviate some of his symptoms. However, just two days after the John Brown shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland received the order the King passed away on February 6, 1952.

It would take just over a year for the ship to be completed, during which time its name remained a secret—it wasn't announced until the ship's official launch in April of 1953, less than two months before the Queen's coronation . Elizabeth cracked a bottle of English wine (in the post-war era, champagne was considered too extravagant for the launch of a ship) and announced, "I name this ship Britannia … I wish success to her and all who sail in her."

It was created to double as a hospital.

When Britannia was first envisioned, less than a decade after the end of World War II, the designers sought to make it as functional as possible, crafting a space that could be converted from an ocean-going royal residence to a seafaring hospital during any possible future wartime. The main veranda was laid out and re-enforced so that it could support a helicopter landing and the laundry was made much larger than on a standard naval vessel to accommodate the potential patients. Though the ship was never actually put to that purpose, it was pressed into service on a rescue mission to help evacuate European nationals from South Yemen in 1986.

The ship was home to a lot of history.

Long before it became a floating museum, the Britannia had an eye for history. The gold and white binnacle housed on the ship's veranda deck was originally part of the HMY Royal George , a royal yacht that served Queen Victoria . Likewise, some of the bed linens used by Queen Elizabeth aboard the vessel were originally made for Victoria's bed for one of the previous royal yachts.

Britannia's steering wheel was lifted from her namesake, the racing yacht HMY Britannia , built in 1893 for King Edward VII .

It was redesigned to be less opulent.

Despite the sense of luxury that the term "royal yacht" inspires, the Queen and Prince Philip were actually concerned when they began overseeing the project in 1952 that the original interior design plans by the design firm McInnes Gardner & Partners were too lavish for a country still recovering from the war. The interiors were ultimately redesigned by Sir Hugh Casson and received very minimal updates throughout her 44 years of service.

But it still had homey touches—by royal standards.

Suffice to say that even low-key royal living is a fairly high class. In addition to the 56-seat State Dining Room, which hosted luminaries including Winston Churchill, Noel Coward, Nelson Mandela, and multiple US Presidents, the ship also sported a formal staircase where the Queen would greet guests, separate bedrooms and sitting rooms for both Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh, and a phone system designed to match the unique configurations of Buckingham Palace's telephones.

In the early years of the Britannia's life it was also home to the Queen's Rolls-Royce Phantom V which was hoisted and lowered from a special garage compartment at port so that the Queen could drive her own car at each location. The space was ever so slightly too small, forcing the bumpers to be removed in order to get it into the garage without damage and then refitted when the car was removed. Ultimately Elizabeth began using cars provided for her at port instead and the garage was converted into a storage area for beer.

The steering crew couldn't see where they were going.

Life on board the HMY Britannia was far from typical for her crew. To begin with, due to the prestige and pressure of the position, the commanding officer of the royal yacht was always a flag officer, most commonly a Rear Admiral, although the first two to serve were Vice Admirals, and Britannia 's final CO was a Commodore.

While working, the crew reportedly used hand signals to communicate rather than shouting orders, in order to maintain a sense of quiet and calm for the royal residents. It was also the last ship in the royal navy where the crew members slept in hammocks, a practice that they maintained until 1973.

Perhaps the most unusual element of the ship's functioning, though, was the steering. While on most ships, the steering wheel sits on the bridge, overlooking the front of the vessel, Britannia 's was on the deck below, in the wheelhouse, which meant that the yachtsmen who were actually doing the steering couldn't see where they were going. The crew got around this rather surprising pitfall by using voice pipes from the bridge to confer navigational orders.

It was a royal honeymoon essential.

No fewer than four royal couples celebrated their honeymoons in the HMY Britannia 's honeymoon suite (the only room onboard with a double bed.)

Princess Margaret started the tradition in 1960 for her Caribbean honeymoon with Anthony Armstrong-Jones , a quiet, formal affair where dinners were taken in full evening dress every night. Things didn't go quite as smoothly for Princess Anne on her honeymoon with Captain Mark Phillips in 1973—storms and 20-foot waves left the couple stricken with seasickness for the first week of their Caribbean cruise. Prince Charles and Princess Diana famously spent their 1981 honeymoon on a Mediterranean cruise aboard the yacht. The crew managed to duck the press so efficiently they garnered the nickname "the ghost ship." The final royal honeymoon aboard the Britannia was taken by Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson , Duchess of York in 1986 when the couple traveled around the Azores.

And a family vacation spot.

In addition to her diplomatic duties on royal tours and her service as a post-wedding retreat, the Britannia was also a vessel for family vacations. During the summer months, the royal family would often take off on what became known as the Western Isles tour, cruising around the western isles of Scotland. During the trip, the family would play games and have barbecues on the islands. The stairway off of the veranda was sometimes even converted into a waterslide for the younger royals. The tour often included a stop off at the Castle of Mey to visit the Queen Mother, then making berth in Aberdeen so that the Queen could travel to her favorite summer home, Balmoral .

The Queen openly wept when HMY Britannia was decommissioned in 1997.

With so many memories around the yacht, it's not hard to understand why the decommissioning of the Britannia was upsetting for the royal family. Though plans were initially drawn up for a replacement yacht, the government ultimately determined not to fund the effort. After the Queen officially took her leave of it in 1997, the ship was placed in the port of Leith in Scotland where it serves as a floating museum and events venue . All of the clocks on board remain stopped at 3:01, the exact time that Her Majesty disembarked for the last time.

It was used for a reception for Zara Phillips before her wedding.

Though it's no longer used as their private vessel, the Britannia 's connection to the royal family didn't end in 1997. In 2011 on the night before her wedding, the Queen's oldest granddaughter Zara Phillips contracted the ship for a reception. Though her grandmother wasn't in attendance Zara celebrated her upcoming marriage to Mike Tindall onboard along with her mother and her cousins Prince Harry, Prince William and Kate, Princess Eugenie, and Princess Beatrice.

Lauren Hubbard is a freelance writer and Town & Country contributor who covers beauty, shopping, entertainment, travel, home decor, wine, and cocktails.

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What Happened to the Royal Yacht Britannia?

By Elise Taylor

The Crown season five begins and ends with the same plot point: The Royal Yacht Britannia. The vessel serves as a—fairly obvious—metaphor in the first episode, where Imelda Staunton’s Queen Elizabeth describes it as “a floating, seagoing version of me.” The problem with her metaphorical marine self? It’s in desperate need of multi-million dollar repairs. 

She asks British prime minister John Major, played by Jonny Lee Miller, whether the government might be able to help foot the bill. He, in turn, asks if the royal family might front the cost, given the public pushback they both might receive if such a seemingly extravagant project was approved. In the final episode of the season (a note to the reader: spoilers will follow), Tony Blair and Queen Elizabeth agree to decommission the yacht after Prince Charles’s trip to Hong Kong.

The Crown is known for taking much of its plot material from real-life events. In the case of the Royal Yacht Britannia, though—what really happened to the boat, and how much political controversy did it really cause?

To go back to the beginning, King George VI first commissioned the royal yacht that would become the Britannia in 1952. It was an exciting project, as the previous official boat had belonged to Queen Victoria, and was rarely used. (Queen Victoria, for one, did not like the water and never sailed.) Then, during the early 20th century, England was mostly at war, and making a massive, slow-sailing luxury ship would be a massive security risk in international waters. 

The Royal Yacht Britannia, George decided, should both be an extravagant vessel and a functional one, able to double as a hospital if times of war were to arise again. In 1953, the newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth christened the ship with a bottle of wine, as champagne was still seen as too extravagant post-war. In 1954, she set sail for the first time.

The Royal Yacht fulfilled many functions, most of them leisurely. Over the years, the boat hosted four royal honeymoons, including that of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, as well as many family vacations. In 1969, after his investiture as the Prince of Wales, Charles hosted an intimate party on board to celebrate. (Newspapers at the time wrote that he danced with his dear friend Lucia Santa Cruz —the very person who eventually introduced him to Camilla Parker Bowles.)

It also served as a grandiose mode of transport for many royal visits. In 1959, for example, Britannia sailed to Chicago to celebrate the recently-opened St. Lawrence seaway in Canada, and President Eisenhower joined her on board. Twenty years later, she sailed to Abu Dhabi for her first official visit to the United Arab Emirates, where she held a grand dinner for Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

And although Queen Elizabeth's reign was not during wartime, the royal yacht did execute a humanitarian mission, as King George VI had always planned for: In 1986, it sailed to Aden to evacuate over 1,000 refugees from the civil war in Yemen.

The New York Times once described the 412-foot Britannia as “an ordinary yacht what Buckingham Palace is to the house next door.” It wasn’t an exaggeration—Britannia was essentially a floating palace. It had a drawing room, a dining room, two sitting rooms, as well as galleys and cabins for all the officers. The stateroom interiors were just as ornate as any other royal estate, while the bedrooms—which all had their own bathrooms and dressing rooms—were designed to feel surprisingly personal. 

By Nicole Kliest

By Emma Specter

By Daniel Rodgers

“Within the royal apartments, however, the regal elegance gives way to the homey, patched elbow chic of an English country house, with flowered chintz slipcovers, family photographs, and rattan settees, interspersed with the occasional relic of Empire—shark's teeth from the Solomon Islands here, a golden urn commemorating Nelson's victory at Trafalgar there,” the New York Times found when it boarded the ship in 1976.

The cost of running Britannia was always an issue. Politicians raised questions about its financial value as far back as 1954, when two MPs lobbied for an investigation on why the yacht’s refurbishment would cost 5.8 million pounds, accusing the royal family of waste and extravagance. A government committee later dismissed the accusations. In 1994, the Conservative government ruled the yacht too costly to refurbish, when repairs came in at a whopping 17 million, but then briefly walked back on their decision a few years later. 

However, when Tony Blair’s Labour government won the election, and the new government once again declined to pay for Britannia. Britannia’s final journey was to far-flung Hong Kong in 1997, as Prince Charles turned over the British colony back to the Chinese at the end of Britain's 99-year lease. When they finally decommissioned the boat that summer, the queen cried—one of the few times she’s shown emotion in public. The boat had logged over one million nautical miles.

Today, Britannia sits permanently docked in Edinburgh. Visitors can take tours of its grand galleys, or even rent it out for events. Yet, despite its retirement, the concept of the royal yacht lives on: In 2021, Boris Johnson floated the idea of a new boat. However, a mere eight days ago, Rishi Sunak has scrapped the project—showing that, even now, the concept remains a controversial one.

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HMS Britannia: 10 facts about Queen Elizabeth's former royal yacht

From humanitarian missions to hosting royal honeymoons, the HMS Britannia has a fascinating history serving the British Royal Family for over four decades. When she was decommissioned in 1997, Queen Elizabeth II shed a tear in a rare display of emotion. The occasion marked the end of long succession for royal yachts dating back to the reign of Charles II. As the country prepares to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee, we remember her beloved Britannia .

1. Britannia was launched in 1953

Britannia was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth II following the death of her father and was launched from John Brown & Co. Ltd - the shipyard that built the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary cruise liners - in 1953. However, there was to be no traditional Champagne-smashing against her bow. In a post-war Britain, Champagne was considered too extravagant so instead, a bottle of Empire wine was selected to do the honours at her official launch ceremony.

2. There are three masts on board

Unlike her predecessors, Britannia possessed a more modern profile with a clipper bow and cruiser stern. The ship was designed with three masts: a 41-metre foremast, a  42-metre mainmast, and 36 metre mizzenmast. The last six metres of the main mast were placed on a hinge so she could pass under bridges.

3. Britannia logged over one million nautical miles

Between family vacations and official tours, Britannia logged over one million nautical miles, which roughly equates to one trip around the world for each of her 44 years in service.

4. The wheel was inherited

The ship’s wheel was taken from King Edward VII’s racing yacht, a 37-metre gaff-rigged cutter also named Britannia . She was a near sistership to Valkyrie II which challenged for the 1893 America's Cup, and won over 230 races in her lifetime. At the end of her life she was stripped of her spars and fittings - the wheel was saved and fitted on Britannia

5. The engine room was hyper-clean

The engine room was hyper-clean  Rumour has it that the engine room on Britannia was kept in such pristine condition that any visitors were made to wipe their feet on a door mat before entering.

6. Royal honeymoons were hosted on board

A number of royal couples chose to spend their honeymoons on Britannia given its privacy and security. Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones started the trend with a six-week sail between Mustique, Trinidad and Antigua, followed by Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, and Princess Diana and Prince Charles. The royal apartments were located on the shelter deck with access to a large veranda.

7. There were more than 200 crew on board

During royal tours, Britannia was manned by 220 yachtsmen, 21 officers and three season officers and a Royal Marine band of 26 on royal tours. Up until the 1970s, the crew had a daily ration of rum and she was the last Royal Navy vessel to have the crew sleep in hammocks.

8. Ready for war

Britannia was designed to be converted into a hospital ship in times of war. Although she was never used in this capacity, she did assist in the evacuation of refugees during the South Yemen civil war. The drawing room was used as a temporary dormitory for the evacuees.

9. The golden rivet

It was common for officers to send junior crew off on a fool’s errand to search for a single "golden rivet". It became a right of passage and engrained in maritime folklore. During a state visit, so the story goes, the Queen had caught wind of this elusive rivet and was keen to see it for herself, so the crew found some gold leaf and hastily created a golden rivet to present to Her Majesty.

10. Decomission

HMS Britannia was officially retired from royal service in 1997. Britannia  is now permanently berthed in Edinburgh and has been converted into a museum. To this day, all the clocks on board remained stopped on 3.01pm which is the exact time the Queen last disembarked the vessel.

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Britannia : Last British royal yacht, but also hospital ship

Britannia was the last ship built for the Royal Family of England. Designed as a hospital ship, she was intended to serve a dual purpose: to accommodate state visits and official receptions, but also to take care of war wounded in times of need. For 44 years, she sailed more than one million miles before being decommissioned in 1997.

Succeeding the royal ship Victoria and Albert

Before the conception of Britannia, its predecessor Albert and Victoria was the first royal yacht not to be powered by sail . Built for Queen Victoria, she never set foot on board, concerned about the stability of the vessel. King Edward VII sailed on board several times, mainly in the Mediterranean. Having served 4 sovereigns in 38 years and not having left Europe since 1911, the Victoria and Albert was decommissioned in 1939 and demolished at Faslane (Royal Navy base) in 1954.

A royal yacht, but also a hospital ship

In 1938, the Admiralty (the political and administrative body managing the Royal Navy) considered the possibility of building a new ship. It was decided to build a new royal yacht, which could both travel the world and serve as a hospital ship in times of war. This project was initiated by King George VI, who was very interested in the design. The latter was ill and it was thought that a convalescent cruise on board this new ship would help the King's fragile health. The project was launched and specifications were sent in 1939 to the main shipbuilders of the country at the time. But the advent of the war brought the project to a halt.

This one was relaunched in 1951 on the basis of the 1939 design, but in a smaller size. This new hospital ship was integrated into the rearmament program and used in peacetime as a royal ship. She was the first royal yacht to offer ocean-going capability, capable of sailing in both tropical and Arctic waters, with a continuous speed of 21 knots and a range of 2,000 miles at 20 knots. For cost savings, the displacement is set at 4euros000 tons and the size at 312 feet (95 m).

Designing a dual-purpose ship is not easy. Some features add value to a royal ship without being essential. They do, however, become essential in the case of a hospital ship. For example, stabilizers, air conditioning units and a large laundry are installed.

As a royal ship, the "White Ensign" (white flag of the White Squadron of the Royal Navy represented by a red cross on a white background with a Union Jack) had to appear on the ship. It was then led by a professional crew . In its 2nd function, the ship was then to fly the "Red Ensign" (red flag) and be operated by a merchant service crew .

As a hospital ship, the ship must be able to accommodate 200 patients in the aft section. While the majority of patients are medical and surgical cases requiring normal hospital conditions, provision must be made for zymotic diseases (acute infections) and tuberculosis. The former will be accommodated in glass cabins built in the lounge with adequate sanitary facilities and isolated from the rest of the ship. Tuberculosis cases requiring "fresh air" will be accommodated in a part of the veranda deck. There will also be an operating room, adjacent sterilization and anesthesia rooms, as well as specialized services such as an ophthalmology room, a physiotherapy room, a pathology laboratory and a radiology room with adjacent darkroom. Full dental facilities, including a laboratory, will be located on the main deck. For the care and treatment of patients, the Navy's medical staff will include eight physicians and dentists, five nurses and 47 sailors.

A modern look, a sumptuous design

Britannia's appearance is modern for its time, with a clipper bow and a cruiser stern, a design preferred to the old traditional royal yacht design. She has three masts, as do all royal yachts . The Royal Standard is carried on the main mast, the Lord Admiral's flag on the bow and the Union Flag on the mizzen mast. The aft superstructure is slightly larger than desired from an aesthetic point of view. This architecture allows the installation of the royal and state apartments, as well as the living spaces dedicated to the royal staff. The crew will be housed on the bow. The ship also features a main staircase, an elevator, guest cabins, several kitchens, large reception rooms, prestigious dining rooms

The main dining room is the grandest of Britannia's living spaces. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have hosted some of the world's most powerful people here: Sir Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. The aft deck area allows the royal family to relax in the sun, playing shuffleboard or field hockey, treasure hunts, water fights. Prince Philip sometimes set up his painting easel here and a free standing pool allowed the royal family to bathe if they wished. The foredeck hosted plays or concerts for the pleasure of the crew and all the people on board. The spacious and elegant saloon served as both a place for the royal family to relax and as a reception room, accommodating up to 250 guests.

Britannia was also the only ship of the Royal Navy to have a permanent laundry on board. The 250 crew members (including 21 officers) could change their uniforms up to 6 times a day. Thus, the washing machines, dryers and steam presses were in constant operation. There was also a NAAFI store on the ship, so that everyone could stock up with whatever they were looking for, from toothpaste to souvenir gifts.

2 years of construction and reliability

7 builders were in the running to win the contract. Finally, the John Brown & Co shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland received the order for this new ship on February 4, 1952. It is one of the most famous shipyards in the world, having built the famous liners Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary.

Unfortunately, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth's father, never saw the bow of the ship as he died two days later. His daughter succeeded him on the throne and took over the construction of the ship. Among the requirements, the ship had to be completed by the end of 1953 or early spring 1954 at the latest. A complicated deadline given the shortage of materials in these post-war times. The keel was laid on June 16, 1952, and the ship was launched on April 16, 1953.

The name of the ship remained a secret until the Queen broke a bottle of Empire wine (champagne was considered too extravagant in post-war Britain) and announced "I name this ship Britannia. I wish her success and all those who will sail on her."

Work continued for some time, including the installation of the chimney and masts. Sea trials began on November 3, 1953 off the west coast of Scotland. Britannia was commissioned by the Royal Navy on January 11, 1954.

On April 22, Britannia made her first sail across the Channel to Malta . For 44 years, she sailed the equivalent of a round-the-world voyage each year, calling at more than 600 ports in 135 countries, including the United States, Australia , Canada and New Zealand. Her fuel tank of 330 tons and her fresh water tank of 120 tons could be increased to 490 tons and 195 tons respectively for long voyages, but remained mostly empty.

A ship to represent England

For 44 years, Britannia served both as a royal residence to host state visits (968) and official receptions, but also as a haven for family vacations. It will also be the witness of 4 royal honeymoons, the ambassador of British business, promoting trade and industry around the world or involved in the evacuation of British nationals during the Yemen war in 1986.

Her decommissioning in 1997 marked the end of a long tradition of British royal yachts , which began in 1680 during the reign of Charles II. She is the last ship of a fleet of 83 British royal yachts . Today Britannia no longer sails, but can be visited and hosts a hotel-restaurant. She also hosts many events.

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The Royal Yacht Britannia : A History of Queen Elizabeth II’s Favorite Palace

By Lisa Liebman

The christening of The Royal Yacht Britannia serves as a cheeky season opener to  The Crown . Black-and-white Pathé News–style footage shows a soon-to-be-crowned Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy) cheered on by shipbuilders as she launches her new 412-foot yacht. “I hope that this brand-new vessel, like your brand-new queen, will prove to be dependable and constant. Capable of weathering any storm,” she says about the royal replacement for the  Victoria and Albert III . By the series’ season finale, set 44 years later, both the sovereign and the floating palace she christened  Britannia will have hit rough seas—the cost of repairing the creaky old vessel and the modern role of the monarchy both in question. Ultimately, the yacht that undertook 968 official voyages all over the world, hosting dignitaries—including 13 US presidents—at receptions and banquets, was dry-docked near Edinburgh, Scotland, where it continues to be a popular tourist attraction. Here are some of the most buoyant facts about the palace the Queen famously said was “the one place where I can truly relax.”

The sun room on the Royal Yacht Britannia as photographed in 1981. 

In a nod to the country’s post-war austerity, Elizabeth scaled back the design of the ship that her father, King George VI, had commissioned just two days before he died. Rather than following the opulent plan laid out by the Scottish firm McInnes Gardner & Partners, she opted for the understated elegance envisioned by architect Sir Hugh Casson, who described “running a lawn mower over the Louis XVIl adornments” in favor of simple white walls, lilac-gray carpeting, and “a bit of gilding in grand places.” Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Phillip, were said to have personally chosen the furniture—much of it, including linens, recycled from the  Victoria and Albert —fabrics (florals, chintz, toile), and paintings. 

Prince Charles and Princess Diana on board the Royal Yacht Britannia as they prepare to depart on their honeymoon cruise in 1981.

As a former Royal Navy Commander, Prince Phillip also saw to the ship’s technical details, and his Bluebottle racing yacht inspired the Britannia ’s navy-hued hull. Outer decks were made of two-inch Burmese teak. The steering wheel was reclaimed from Britannia ’s namesake, King Edward VII’s 1893 racing yacht; a wheelhouse wheel came from George V’s racing yacht; and a gold-and-white binnacle (housing the ship’s compass) was salvaged from King George III’s yacht and installed on the Veranda deck. Fittings from former royal ships were also reused. 

The drawing room on the Royal Yacht Britannia as photographed in 1978. 

The 4,000-ton yacht had a crew of 220 Royal Yachtsmen who lived on board, about 45 household staff, and occasionally a 26-member Royal Marine embarked to entertain dignitaries. The monarch often welcomed guests from the ship’s grand staircase. (Stairs leading from the Veranda to the Royal deck were sometimes transformed into a water slide for the kids.)  Britannia ’s apartments were designed like those of a first-class ocean liner. A 56-seat state dining room, where many of the gifts given to the monarch (a wood-carved shark from Pitcairn Island, a bejeweled gold statue from Bangkok) were displayed, was the scene of formal dinners with guests such as Sir Winston Churchill, Frank Sinatra, Nelson Mandela, and Bill and Hillary Clinton. More intimate gatherings were held in the Queen’s official reception room, a smaller state drawing room with floral upholstered pieces, simple wood tables, an electric fireplace, and a Welmar baby grand piano bolted to the deck—played by everyone from Sir Noël Coward to Princesses Diana and Margaret. The teak-clad sun lounge, with rattan furniture and a toile loveseat, was Elizabeth’s favorite place—where she had her breakfast, afternoon tea, and also enjoyed her favorite Dubonnet and gin cocktails.

The Queen’s sitting room on the Royal Yacht Britannia as photographed in 1981. 

By Amelia Mularz

By Katie Schultz

By Katherine McLaughlin

A ship elevator reserved for royal use moved between the Upper and Shelter Decks. The latter is where four Royal Apartments (bedrooms), including the Queen and Prince Phillip’s connecting compartments, were located. Hers featured florals, his had red accents. Elizabeth’s understated Upper Deck private sitting room, done in pastels and neutrals, served as the office where she conducted state business. Phillip used his sitting room, with its wood desk facing a model of his first command, the HMS Magpie , as his study. Below deck there was a wine cellar, as well as a cargo hold that could carry a barge, speed- and sailboats, plus a royal Range Rover and Rolls-Royce. The yacht could also be converted into a hospital (though it never was).

The Queen shed a tear at the decommissioning ceremony for thye Royal Yacht Britannia.

As depicted in  The Crown, Britannia ’s final official trip was to Hong Kong in 1997, where Prince Charles attended the handover of the territory to China. By then, Prime Minister Tony Blair’s administration was complaining that the £11 million a year needed to keep the boat afloat couldn’t be justified. With Queen Elizabeth, Prince Phillip, and all of their children in attendance,  Britannia was decommissioned at a ceremony in Portsmouth, England on December 11, 1997, with the monarch seen wiping away a tear. The yacht, now docked in Leith, Scotland, is open to the public as a museum and events space. (Prior to their wedding, Princess Anne and Mark Phillips’s daughter Zara Phillips and her fiancé Mike Tindall had a celebration there.) Visitors will note that every clock on board reads 3:01, the exact time the Queen disembarked her beloved  Britannia for the final time on that December day.

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By Jennifer Beck Goldblatt

By Charlotte Collins

The Royal Yacht Britannia Has a Fascinating History—Here's Everything You Should Know

It doesn't get more majestic than Queen Elizabeth II's yacht.

Seventy years ago, the Britannia began its journey as the royal yacht for Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family of the United Kingdom. Over the next 44 years she’d travel more than a million nautical miles and, in all her glamour and old world elegance, served as a residence that welcomed state visits from all over the world and family holidays alike. Then and now, she was and is a majestic symbol of the British Commonwealth and the reign of Queen Elizabeth II .

“Britannia is special for a number of reasons,” Prince Phillip once said. “Almost every previous sovereign has been responsible for building a church, a castle, a palace or just a house. The only comparable structure in the present reign is Britannia. As such she is a splendid example of contemporary British design and technology.”

Although she retired from service in 1997, today the Britannia, one of many of the world's grandest yachts , is docked in Edinburgh, where she is open as a visitors’ attraction and host of private events. Below we give you all the Royal Yacht Britannia facts you might want to know, from who owns the yacht now to why she was decommissioned to how fast she is to how to get tickets to visit. Britannia was, after all, the one place the queen said she could “truly relax,” so why not see why for yourself?

Royal Yacht Britania Facts and History

On February 4, 1952, John Brown & Co shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland, received the order from the Admiralty to build a new Royal Yacht to travel the globe and double as a hospital ship in times of war, according to the royal yacht's website . King George VI passed away two days after, sadly, and so on April 16, 1953, the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II announced the yacht’s new name as the ship was revealed.

"I name this ship Britannia,” she said. “I wish success to her and all who sail in her." Britannia was commissioned into the Royal Navy in January 1954 and by April of that year sailed into her first overseas port: Grand Harbour, Malta.

The queen and The Duke of Edinburgh worked with interior designer Sir Hugh Casson for the ship to serve as both a functional Royal Navy vessel and an elegant royal residence. Queen Elizabeth II selected deep blue for Britannia’s hull, instead of the more traditional black. Its Naval crew included 220 Yachtsmen, 20 officers, and three season officers—plus a Royal Marines Band of 26 men during Royal Tours.

All of them might have had to change uniform up to six times a day, so the laundry service on board worked nonstop. The yacht also engaged in British overseas trade missions known as Sea Days and made an estimated £3 billion for the Exchequer between 1991 and 1995 alone.

The ship’s wheel was taken from King Edward VII’s racing yacht, also named Britannia, according to Boat International , and the 126-meter ship could reach speeds of 22.75 knots, or a seagoing cruising speed of 21 knots, according to Super Yacht Times . Other fun facts: The yacht could produce her own fresh water from sea water, and shouting was forbidden aboard to preserve tranquility, favoring hand signals for Naval orders instead.

Over the next 44 years, the Britannia would sail the equivalent of once around the world for each year, in total visiting 600 ports in 135 countries. Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones were the first of four couples to honeymoon on the ship in 1960, gifting them all privacy to sail to secluded locations. Prince Charles and Princess Diana followed in 1981 on the Mediterranean as well as Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips before them in 1973 in the Caribbean and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in 1986 in the Azores.

For family vacations aboard the ship, games, treasure hunts, plays, and picnics were organized, and on warm days the children could play in an inflatable paddling pool on the Verandah Deck.

In the Sun Lounge, the queen especially enjoyed taking breakfast and afternoon tea with views through large picture windows, a space you can see replicated in the TV show The Crown. Although no filming took place on board the Britannia for the show, researchers ensured scenes aboard it were accurate. In the queen’s bedroom, the resemblance is seen down to the decorative wall light fittings and embroidered silk panel above her bed that had been specially commissioned.

In 1997, the ship was decommissioned after the government decided the costs to refit it would be too great. On its final day in her service that followed a farewell tour around the U.K., the queen openly wept as the Band of HM Royal Marines played "Highland Cathedral."

"Looking back over 44 years we can all reflect with pride and gratitude upon this great ship which has served the country, the Royal Navy and my family with such distinction," Queen Elizabeth II said. All clocks on the ship stopped at 15:01, the exact time the Queen disembarked from the yacht for the final time, and they would remain at that time until the present.

How to Tour the Royal Yacht Britania

Today the yacht is owned by Royal Yacht Britannia Trus t, and all revenue it generates goes to the yacht’s maintenance and preservation. Ticketed entry allows you to step into state rooms like the Sun Lounge, the State Dining Room and State Drawing Room, in addition to the working side of the ship in the Crew’s Quarters, Laundry and gleaming Engine Room. Along the way you will see original artifacts from the shop—95 percent of which is on loan from The Royal Collection.

How to Visit the Royal Britania

You can visit the Britannia any day of the year on Edinburgh’s waterfront. Hours vary by season, and you can find them listed and purchase tickets on the yacht’s website . Private tours are also available, and you can visit the Royal Deck Tearoom, where the Royal Family hosted cocktail parties and receptions, for drinks, meals and scones. Additionally, the Britannia hosts special ticketed events for New Year’s and other occasions, and event spaces can be booked as well.

While you are in Edinburgh, you can also stay on the Fingal , a neighboring yacht-turned-floating-hotel, which is a seven-minute walk from the Britannia, and dine at its Lighthouse Restaurant & Bar, which serves breakfast, afternoon tea, dinner, and cocktails.

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The Royal Yacht Britannia

A.N. Other · Jun 6, 1983 · Print This Page

THE ROYAL YACHT BRITANNIA , named and launched by the Queen at Clydebank (Scotland) in 1953, serves as an official and private residence for the Queen and other members of the Royal Family when they are engaged on visits overseas or are voyaging in home waters. The yacht also takes part in some naval exercises and undertakes routine hydrographic tasks while at sea.

The decision to build the yacht as a replacement for the 50-year-old yacht Victoria and Albert , then no longer seaworthy, was announced by the Admiralty (now the Ministry of Defence, Navy Department) in October 1951. Britannia was designed for two functions: (1) the royal yacht in peace time, (2) she has the speed and special facilities which would enable conversion to a hospital ship in time of war. The ship has a modern clipper bow and modified cruiser stern instead of the traditional swan bow and counter stern of previous royal yachts.

Built by John Brown’s (Clydebank) Ltd, Britannia was ordered in February 1952, and completed in January 1954. The total construction cost £2.1 million. Her specifications include the following:

Merchant ship practice was followed in Britannia’s construction, and the structural plans were submitted to Lloyd’s Register of Shipping. In their final form they were approved by Lloyd’s and the Admiralty.

Refits and docking usually take place in the Royal Dockyard, Portsmouth. The first major refit of the ship since her launching took place in 1972 and 1973: the main task completed was the improvement of accommodation for the crew and the installation of an air conditioning system for their quarters.

The royal apartments are aft on the shelter deck and the royal staff accommodation is on the lower deck.

(In wartime the after part would have wards accommodating up to 200 patients). The royal and state apartments contain some of the furniture from the Victoria and Albert. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh took a personal interest in the interior decorations, the choice of furnishings and the general fitting-out of the royal yacht.

The yacht is an independent command, administered personally by the Flag Officer, Royal Yachts. He is normally appointed as an extra equerry to the Queen and, as such, is a member of the royal household. Britannia’s crew numbers 21 officers and 256 men when members of the royal family are embarked or when the vessel undertakes a long ocean voyage. Officers are normally appointed for two-year periods of duty. Half the ratings are permanent crew members and remain attached to the ship for the rest of their service careers; the others are attached to the yacht for two-year periods only. They are all volunteers from the Royal Navy, but receive no special benefits in terms of pay, allowances or leave.

Traditions of dress aboard the royal yacht include the wearing by seamen of naval uniform with the jumper inside the top of the trousers, which are finished at the back with a black silk bow. On all blue uniforms, ratings wear white badges instead of the red which are customary in the Royal Navy. So far as possible orders on the upper deck are executed without spoken words or commands, and by long tradition the customary naval mark of respect of piping the side is paid only to the Queen.

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I visited the Royal Yacht Britannia, the royal family's luxurious private cruise ship known as a 'floating palace.' Take a look inside.

• The Royal Yacht Britannia was the royal family's private yacht from 1953 to 1997.
• The ship is now a museum open to the public in Edinburgh, Scotland.
• The tour shows the Queen's bedroom, state rooms used for entertaining, and crew bunks.

The Royal Yacht Britannia was the royal family's private yacht from 1953 to 1997.

With its many royal family vacations and official tours, the yacht logged over 1 million miles , the equivalent of one trip around the world for each of its 44 years at sea.

The Queen once said that "Britannia is the one place where I can truly relax."

The Labour government decommissioned the ship in 1997 due to its high operation cost of £11 million each year, Reuters reported . That's equivalent to about $23 million today.

At the decommissioning ceremony, the Queen  shed a rare public tear .

The ship has made several appearances in Netflix's "The Crown," including season five .

The yacht is now a museum open to the public in Edinburgh, Scotland.

On a recent trip to Scotland , I booked a ticket for the Royal Yacht Britannia museum, which costs £18.50 ($23) for adults.

The entrance is located inside the Ocean Terminal shopping center in Edinburgh.

Before boarding the yacht, visitors walk through a museum detailing the boat's history and connection to the royal family.

The five-story ship was a royal residence as well as a Royal Navy ship, with a full-time staff of more than 240 royal yachtsmen and officers.

The museum displays photos of the royal family's life aboard the ship, as well as items like crew uniforms.

Then, a walkway with more photos leads to the deck of the boat.

The ship is docked on the water just outside the shopping center.

I listened to the audio tour of the ship on my phone by scanning a QR code.

There were also separate listening devices available.

Each room of the ship had a number that you could type in and press "play" to hear about your surroundings in an array of languages.

The first stop was the bridge, the main control point of the yacht.

In this small space, officers navigated the seas and recorded data in the ship's logbooks.

Outside, the flag deck is the highest point on the ship.

Britannia had three masts, and different flags were used to communicate with other ships on the water.

The admiral's cabin and suite is the most spacious on the ship, aside from the royal apartments.

The admiral's accommodations featured a day room, bedroom, bathroom, and pantry. The sofa and armchairs in the dayroom are over 100 years old and came from the previous royal yacht, Victoria and Albert III.

The royal family often sunbathed, played deck hockey, or swam in a collapsible swimming pool on the Veranda Deck.

Part of the yacht's royal quarters, the deck was also used for receptions and group photos.

Prince Philip occasionally set up his easel on the deck to paint.

Overlooking the Veranda Deck, the Sun Lounge was one of the Queen's favorite rooms on the ship.

Queen Elizabeth would often take her breakfast and afternoon tea in the Sun Lounge.

The Queen's bedroom on the Royal Yacht Britannia featured bed linens that once belonged to Queen Victoria.

The embroidered silk panel above the Queen's bed, commissioned in 1953, cost £450 ($560, or $6,250 in today's money).

Her sheets were embossed with "HM The Queen."

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip had separate bedrooms connected by an adjoining door.

Each room had its own bathroom.

Philip's bedroom featured red linens, and he requested pillowcases without lace trim.

A button next to each of their beds would summon a royal steward.

Across the hall, the Honeymoon Suite was the only room onboard with a double bed.

The double bed was requested by then-Prince Charles when he honeymooned with Princess Diana in 1981.

The room was also used as a nursery when the royal children were young.

The Anteroom served as a recreational space for the officers, off-limits to the rest of the crew.

Officers would spend their time here listening to the radio and playing board games.

The royal family occasionally dined in the adjoining Wardroom.

Britannia's 19 officers ate meals here, accompanied by the Royal Marines Band.

Britannia has three galleys, which are still working kitchens today.

The galleys prepare food for the Royal Deck Tea Room and events hosted on the ship.

The Royal Deck Tea Room offers an extensive menu of soups, sandwiches, scones, and other treats for visitors to the museum.

The royal family once used the space to entertain guests and play deck games.

The state dining room is the largest room on the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Nelson Mandela, and many other world leaders dined here with the royal family.

The placement of each utensil was measured with a ruler.

Just off the state dining room, the Queen's sitting room served as her office.

Here, the Queen would meet with her press secretaries and prepare for royal visits.

On the opposite side of the hall, the Duke of Edinburgh had his own sitting room.

Both Philip and Charles used the room as a study. Philip kept a model of his first naval command, the HMS Magpie, above his desk.

The telephones connecting the sitting rooms to each other and their private secretaries' offices are identical to the phones used in Buckingham Palace.

The large Drawing Room and connecting Anteroom could accommodate up to 250 guests.

The Drawing Room featured an electric fireplace and cozy floral furniture. When it wasn't being used as a reception space during formal events, the royal family used it to relax and play games on the card tables.

Petty officers and Royal Marine sergeants kicked back in their living quarters, also known as the mess.

Petty officers would occasionally entertain the Queen and other royal family members here.

The crew bunks weren't as glamorous as the royal apartments.

Each bunk folded up into a seat, and crew members stored their possessions in lockers.

Britannia's NAAFI (Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes) shop sold souvenirs and sweets, as well as essentials like toothpaste.

Diana once bought Prince William a Britannia souvenir shirt from the shop. Today, it sells homemade fudge to museum guests.

The ship's sick bay and operating theater still feature the original furnishings from the 1950s.

The ship's doctor attended to crew members, while the Queen's royal surgeon traveled with her on voyages.

Britannia's laundry room could reach temperatures of 120 degrees Fahrenheit as it washed up to 600 shirts in one day.

The royal family's laundry was done on different days than the crew's laundry.

All of the clocks onboard the Royal Yacht Britannia are stopped at 3:01 p.m.

The clocks are frozen at the  time the Queen stepped off the ship for the last time  during its decommissioning ceremony in December 1997.

The tour concludes in a gift shop full of royal souvenirs.

Amid the Britannia-themed mugs, pens, and aprons, the gift shop also sold replicas of royal jewelry.

There's even a photo-op at the end of the tour where you can practice your royal wave.

The tour was full of surprising facts about royal life and travels, and I couldn't believe that we actually got to see inside Queen Elizabeth's bedroom on the ship. It's definitely worth a visit.

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Name Royal Yacht Britannia

Construction

As 83rd in a long line of royal yachts that stretches back to 1660 and the reign of Charles II, BRITANNIA holds a proud place in British maritime history. Plans to build a new royal yacht to replace the VICTORIA AND ALBERT III began during the reign of King George VI. But The King died in 1952, four months before the keel of the yacht was laid. His daughter, Princess Elizabeth, succeeded him to the throne and the new Queen, together with her husband, Prince Philip, took a guiding hand in the design of the yacht, personally approving plans prepared by Sir Hugh Casson, Consultant Architect and selecting furniture, fabrics and paintings.

On April 16 1953, Her Majesty's yacht BRITANNIA rolled down the slipway at John Brown's Clydebank Shipyard, on the start of her long and illustrious career. Commissioned for service in January 1954, BRITANNIA sailed the oceans for 43 years and 334 days. During that time she steamed a total of 1,087,623 nautical miles, carrying The Queen and other members of The Royal Family on 968 official visits and calling at over 600 ports in 135 countries. In June 1994, the Government announced that Her Majesty's yacht BRITANNIA would be taken out of service.

On 11 December 1997, BRITANNIA was decommissioned at Portsmouth Naval Base in the presence of The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and fourteen senior members of The Royal Family. Some 2,200 past and present royal yacht officers and yachtsmen, together with their families, came to witness the ceremony. Following BRITANNIA's decommissioning, proposals were put forward by cities around the UK, all competing to secure the ship. In April 1998, the Government announced that Edinburgh had been successful in its bid to bring BRITANNIA to the historic port of Leith. It was fitting that at the end of her active life, BRITANNIA should return to Scotland and to a familiar port for her final berth. The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust undertook to preserve this important 20th century icon, in keeping with her former role, and has safeguarded the yacht's place in the nation's heritage for future generations.

BRITANNIA is now a five star visitor attraction and one of the UK's premier corporate hospitality venues.

Built by John Brown’s Shipyard on Clydebank

Commissioned for service

Sailed the oceans for 43 years and 334 days, carrying the Royal Family on 968 official visits and calling at over 600 ports in 135 countries

Picked up refugees from an outbreak of civil strife and ferried them to the relative safety of Mogadishu

Government announced that Her Majesty's yacht would be taken out of service

Decommissioned at Portsmouth Naval Base

Vessel moved to port of Leith, Scotland for preservation as a visitor attraction

Classic Boat: Rule Britannia, May 2003 Norman Middlemiss, Shipping - Today & Yesterday: A Diamond Jubilee Tribute - 60 years of Royal yachts and launches,   pp22-24, June 2012   

Own this vessel?

If you are the owner of this vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information, please contact [email protected]

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Sunak sinks new royal yacht plan in favour of ocean surveillance ship

Defence capabilities prioritised over Johnson’s £250m ‘vanity project’ for successor to HMY Britannia

Rishi Sunak has sunk plans by Boris Johnson’s administration to build a new royal yacht, sparking criticism about the £2.5m of taxpayers’ money already spent on the “vanity project”.

As Whitehall braced for cuts expected in Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement next week, the project – intended to promote post-Brexit trade – was abandoned in favour of defence capabilities.

The scheme, championed by Johnson when he was prime minister , was likely to cost up to £250m, with additional annual running costs of up to £30m.

The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, who had previously supported the idea and described critics as “doomsters”, told the House of Commons it had been dropped on Monday.

He said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin’s “reckless disregard of international arrangements designed to keep world order” meant it was more important to deliver “capabilities which safeguard our national infrastructure”.

Wallace confirmed he had “directed the termination of the national flagship competition with immediate effect”, in order to prioritise the procurement of a multi-role ocean surveillance ship (MRoss).

The MRoss would “protect sensitive defence infrastructure and civil infrastructure” and “improve our ability to detect threats to the seabed and cables”, he said.

Sunak’s spokesperson said the prime minister thought it was “right to prioritise at a time when difficult spending decisions need to be made”.

Labour welcomed the news that the government was scrapping Johnson’s “taxpayer-funded vanity project”.

John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, said: “At a time when threats to this country are growing, and the Conservatives’ economic mismanagement threatens future prosperity, this money would have been better spent on our nation’s defences.”

The vessel had been expected to be constructed in the UK and had been planned to take to the water in 2024 or 2025, touring the world as a “floating embassy”.

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Harland & Wolff, a shipbuilding and marine engineering operator based in Belfast, said it was one of two finalists in the design procurement process.

John Wood, the firm’s chief executive, said the decision to scrap the scheme was “disappointing”, but added: “We understand the rationale for doing so, considering the current macroeconomic environment and the ongoing situation in Ukraine.”

He said the flagship would have “returned many multiples of her build cost to the UK economy over many decades, acting as an international demonstration of the creativity and engineering talent the UK has to offer”.

However, the Commons defence committee said in 2021 there was “no evidence of the advantage to the Royal Navy of acquiring the national flagship” and that the cost would pile extra pressure on the armed forces.

• Defence policy
• Ben Wallace

More on this story

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Ministry of Defence seeks £3.2bn as costs overrun in Yemen and Ukraine

Princess of Wales’ diagnosis: cancers in young are rising, but so are survival rates

Apologies for Kategate – but will the spirit of restraint on social media last?

A failing British nuclear arsenal reliant on the goodwill of Donald Trump? It’s a terrifying thought

On a garden bench, amid a sea of daffodils: how Kate dropped her bombshell news

UK must deepen Europe defence ties in face of Trump threat, says Macron ally

Britain’s slimmed-down monarchy has been left vulnerable in wake of cancer diagnoses

UK closer to large-scale conflict than in many years, intelligence official says

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HMHS Britannia, Royal Yacht, hospital markings (Minic Ships 721H)

A 1:1200 first-issue model of Her Majesty's Yacht HMY Britannia , with alternative hospital markings. The model is part of the Tri-Ang Minic range produced between 1959 and 1964.

The model has a white body and white funnel bearing a red cross.

Triang Catalogue Number: M721H

The original ship

The Royal Yacht was nominally built as a dual-purpose ship that could serve as a hospital ship in times of war. However, the ship was never assigned the "HMHS prefix, since it was never never put into service in this role.

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The Royal Yacht Britannia, Ocean Drive, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6JJ

Tel: 0131 555 5566 Email us: [email protected]

The Royal Yacht Britannia is open, visit today 10am – 3pm!

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The ‘Yotties’, the Royal Yachtsmen, had a daily rum ration up until the 1970s.

A 24-hour laundry

The only vessel in the Navy to have a 24-hour laundry service

The line around the hull of Britannia is 24-carat gold leaf.

Working Areas

What was it like to live and work on board the Royal Yacht for the Royal Yachtsmen or 'Yotties' as they are known?

This was the centre of command and control on board Britannia. Ultimate responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of the ship, crew, Royal Family and state events rested on the shoulders of one man - Britannia's Admiral or Commodore. 

The Wheelhouse

Unlike many ships, Britannia's steering wheel was not on the Bridge, but in the Wheelhouse on the deck immediately below. Its location meant the Yachtsmen steering Britannia could not see where they were going, and were guided by orders linked by voice pipes from the Bridge above.

The Officers' Wardroom

This was Britannia's equivalent of a Gentleman's Club - here Britannia's 20 Officers would dine and relax in an atmosphere steeped in tradition. An invitation to dine with the Officers was much sought after by members of the Royal party. It was also tradition that the Captain did not dine with his fellow Officers, unless invited to do so.

Recreation Areas or 'Messes'

In the Navy different ranks have their own recreation areas, known as 'Messes'. These were very welcoming places to relax and unwind after a busy day in Royal service. Britannia was the last Royal navy ship in which crew members slept in hammocks, up until 1973.

The Unwinding Room

Rather unusually, Britannia had a mess area for all the Junior Ratings from different departments, so they could 'unwind' together. Over time, the Junior Ratings Recreational Space became better known as the Unwinding Room, and is held in deep affection by the 'Yotties'.

Like all Royal Navy ships, Britannia had a Navy, Army and Air Force Institute shop, known as the NAAFI. It was here that the 'Yotties' could buy sweets, magazines, papers, special Britannia souvenirs and essentials such as toothpaste and razors.

The Sick Bay

This was the one place the crew wanted to avoid. It was proposed when Britannia was built that she could perform a secondary role and be converted to a hospital ship during wartime. Although the ship was used in a rescue mission in war-torn South Yemen in 1986, she thankfully never had to fulfil this other role. This Department was staffed by a Naval Medical Officer and two medical Chief Petty Officers (CPOs), one an operating Theatre Nurse or Medical Assistant, the other a Chartered Physiotherapist. This team looked after the health and welfare of the Yacht's Company, Royal Household, and embarked guests. When Queen Elizabeth II embarked for state duties, she was accompanied by The Queen's Surgeon.

The Laundry

With over 240 Officers and Yachtsmen and numerous uniform changes required on a daily basis - the Laundry was very busy and very hot. Britannia was the only ship in the Royal Navy to have such a large Laundry; this was partly due to her potential secondary role as a hospital ship. The Laundry was staffed by its own crew, since the Royal Yacht was one of very few Royal Navy ships that did not have a Chinese Laundry service.

The Galleys

In addition to the two galleys which prepared all food for the Officers and crew, Britannia also had a Royal Galley located immediately ahead of the State Dining Room. When Queen Elizabeth II was on board her food was prepared by the chefs from Buckingham Palace. The storerooms could hold two month's supply of fish and meat, fresh bread was baked daily (as it is today for our Tea Room and for evening events) and there was a special cold room called the Jelly Room, where the Royal children's jellies were stored.

The Engine Room

An immaculate room of gleaming brass, chrome and white enamel, a testament to British engineering at its best. The engines steamed over 1 million nautical miles over 40 years with barely a problem. They turned out a total of 12,000 horsepower and drove Britannia and her four-bladed propellers to a maximum of 22.5 knots. Queen Elizabeth II was particularly fond of the Engine Room and would often take guests down to see it after dinner. When America's General Norman Schwarzkopf was shown Britannia's spotless Engine Room in 1992, he was reported as saying: 'Okay. I've seen the museum piece. Now, where's the real engine room?' It is true that the Engine Room, with its dials and old fashioned steam turbines, has an air of antiquity.

The sparkling chrome dials were used to monitor different stages of steam pressures and vacuums, which were critical to ensuring the safe passage of Britannia. The main machinery consists of two sets of turbines and gearing. Manning this room was labour intensive; at any one time, there would be eight men on duty in the Engine Room, Boiler Room and associated machinery rooms.

Visiting Britannia

Tripadvisor’s No.1 UK Attraction 2023

Due to upcoming construction work at Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre , Britannia will be closed 25-28 June.

Click on the Visit page  for all you need to know before you visit.

Step aboard to enjoy a great day out!

Fingal Hotel

Get away from the everyday aboard Britannia’s sister ship, Fingal.  Extend your visit with a stay in one of Fingal’s luxurious cabins, your own oasis by the sea. 

AA Hotel of the Year Scotland, AA five-star hotel and 2 AA Rosettes

Learn more: fingal.co.uk

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River Cruise on Luxurious Radisson Boat

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Equipped with ice-breaking technology, these huge fancy yachts are the only river cruisers running all year around. The round trip journey takes two and a half hours and floats past all the big sights like the White House, Novodevichy monastery and the Kremlin. There’s a large open air observation deck up top, while the main body of the ship houses a restaurant with a dance floor for a romantic post dinner dance. For a particularly romantic experience take one of the evening boats and admire the bright lights of the city skyline at night.

The most relaxing and picturesque tour that Moscow can offer: a great way to see the city center and its main attractions. This is a perfect alternative to exploring the city by car, if you only have time to do sightseeing during weekday rush hours.

Your English-speaking guide is eager to share every bit of their knowledge about the surrounding landscape, the architecture and historical details.

We conduct Moscow river tour on Radisson Flotilla boats all year around!  It’s warm inside during winter months, while there’s air conditioning during hot summer days. You may also treat yourself to drinks, lunch or dinner on board (drinks and food are not included in tour price).

The cost of an excursion with a personal guide for 1 person

Quay at Radisson Collection Hotel

Government Headquarters ("the White House")

Kievsky Railway Central

Novodevichy Convent

Luzhniki Stadium

Academy of Sciences

Monument to Peter I

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

Moscow Kremlin

St.Basil's Cathedral

Novospassky Monastery

U-turn and back to Quay at Radisson Royal Hotel

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7 Major Ports in Russia

As the largest of all the landmasses in the entire world, Russia has an extensive coastline. It features on the periphery of the Arctic Ocean surrounding its entire North for trading prospects. The Barents Sea, with the South-Eastern side touching the Sea of Japan encompasses the major ports in Russia.

60% of the total cargo movement on the international scale for Russia takes place through the sea. This includes almost 722 million MT (2016) cargo movement through international vessel calls.

A staggering 67 thousand plus ship calls come through this busy network every year. However, the modern handling facilities ensure that the median handling time for these ships remains 1.45 days. This means the port facilities under the Russian Government’s reach are the best in the business!

As a shipping nation, the Russian seafarers are plenty in number across the globe. The country’s shipping strength boasts over 2820 vessel registrations and 98,000 seafarers under them.

Major Ports Of Russia

In this article, we review the major ports in Russia of inland and international importance. We highlight their share in building the 571 496 million current US$ shipping market in the country. The details also contain their accurate location, identity code, and other geographical information.

1. Port of Novorossiysk (Krasnodar Krai, Russia)

UN/Locode: RUNVS Latitude: 44.720065° Longitude: 37.81373°

The port of Novorossiysk has a 3.4 sq. km harbour area with a land area worth 2.7 sq. km. This includes a total of 89 functioning berths for vessels of all sizes. It features as the biggest seagoing port for Russia for over decades with almost 50% higher turnover.

The establishment of the port of Novorossiysk dates back to 1829, with major exchanges since 1846. The port’s range of services recorded 143 million MT of cargo handling for 2020. It includes one of the first Timber wood handling facilities to feature across the Black Sea ports.

Cargo Handling

A total of 11 berths are important in handling timber and other bulk cargo. 4 separate berths over a quay length of 570 meters handle the container operations. The sheer size of the facility allows maximum handling limits of 208 million MT every year.

Network and Layout

The timber operations across the 4 berths (31, 32, 31/A, 31/5) are the most advanced facility across Europe. Their throughput every year crosses figures between 400 thousand to 600 thousand.

This connects with direct railway and loading facilities, reaching out to 70% of timber industries. Meanwhile, 180 thousand and more TEU capacity of container handling adds to the port’s large-scale profits.

2. Port of Saint Petersburg (St. Petersburg, Russia)

UN/Locode: RULED Latitude: 59.91933° Longitude: 30.327035°

The Port of Saint Petersburg has one of the deepest drafts for any Russian facility. The inner anchorage ranges between 23 to 25 meters while the channel draft is approx. 18.5 to 23 meters.

As one of the major ports in Russia, its water area spreads over an expanse of 164 sq. km. Meanwhile, the beginning of its establishment dates back to 1869. At present, the facility uses 470 vessels for in-house operations along their coast.

The passenger terminal at St. Petersburg handles over 450 vessels annually. This happens over a dozen of berths, with 2 major terminals having the alongside the extent of 360 meters.

The total mooring size capacity of this facility is over 30 kilometres. This includes the working capacity of more than 200 berths of various sizes in this facility.

St. Petersburg famously works with 8 major cranes of Panamax capacity. This couples with 3 RMG and 20 gantry nature cranes for handling container goods. This rounds off to the port’s annual handling figures to well over 2 million every year.

The facility connects with major cargo shipping destinations through 2 dozen operating lines. It acts as the major gateway for providing shipping access to the Russian interiors. The neighbouring ports like Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, etc. act as the feeder terminals for the super container ships .

Over 122 tugs and 3 dozen oil barges are resident for berthing and bunkering operations. The rail line operates through the container segment of the port, handling container transport.

3. Port of Ust-Luga (Kingiseppsky District, Russia)

UN/Locode: RUULU Latitude: 59.68294° Longitude: 28.329515°

The port of Ust-Luga stands only behind Novorossiysk in terms of cargo handling volume for 2020. It has the biggest handling facility for coal bulk operations in the Northern part of Russia. The additional expansion plans provide this facility with a total area of 30 sq. km.

Ust-Luga has 5 major berths that operate for round the year operation in severe temperatures. These handle over 30 vessels at once with anchorage facilities over 20 meters and higher depth.

The state-of-art coal loading facilities handle export abilities up to 20 million MT annually. It also is one of the newest facilities in Russia, dating back to 2011 for its establishment.

The loading conveyors for the coal handle up to 500 MT every hour on average. This facility accommodates vessels ranging up to 60,000MT of DWT for coal loading.

In addition, Ust-Luga also handles livestock, liquid, and general cargo operations. The overall cargo operations have figures worth 102.6 million MT for 2020. 2 mega cranes of 104 MT capacity and 1 of 80 MT capacity operate simultaneously with the conveyor system.

The berthing network contains a ramp bridge terminal and 7 deep berths spread across 1500 meters. Their operations handle 1000 to 1450 vessels up to 1,20,000 MT DWT.

The layout also has a warehouse for final goods handling, spread over 2800 sq. meters. This facility connects with the Ust-Luga railway terminal that has a special station for the port. The plan is for expanding the facility for over 26 train arrivals every day in the next decade.

4. Port of Vostochny (Nakhodka Bay, Russia)

UN/Locode: RUVYP Latitude: 42.762495° Longitude: 133.0514°

The port of Vostochny operates with two major terminals for a handling capacity of 80 million MT. In 2020, the facility shows stats worth 77 million MT including the export. In the internodal structure, the coal loading takes place at the special coal terminal.

The facility is amongst the oldest in the major ports in Russia, dating back to 1974. The trans-Siberian railway connects the terminal to the most prominent end-user plants. Vostochny’s major exports connect with the Asian countries, with Japan and Korea using up to 60%.

Over 550 vessel arrivals for the year 2019 have mostly bulk carriers of different sizes. The facility accommodates vessels up to 1,80,000 MT DWT for bulk coal operations.

The general handling facilities show 300,000 units of rail cars carrying the cargo for this period. The discharge to these rails uses the conveyor mechanism with automatic operations.

The Vostochny terminal employs over 1700 people for the cargo and operational routines. The spreading layout uses 98% of mechanical and electrical automation for operations.

With the progressive development of their phase 3, the handling capacities will touch over 100 million MT. As a result, the net income of the facility amounts to an annual figure of 125 million USD.

5. Port of Primorsk (Vyborgsky District, Russia)

UN/Locode: RUPRI Latitude: 60.3463° Longitude: 28.67096°

The Port of Primorsk is spread across a land piece of 5.4 sq. km area for cargo operation. This is in addition to the 32 sq. km of water limits within their expanse. It features amongst the top Russian ports by volume, handling 50 million MT+ cargo annually.

The initial operations at the facility date back to the year 2001, with a further increase in 2004. The facility operates 6 major berths that spread across a length of 2.8 km alongside. The deepest tanker-handling terminals allow drafts up to 17.8 meters for convenient loading.

An annual handling capacity of 60 million MT and more of liquid cargo allows major export relations. The Primorsk port also stands out as the highest contributor to oil exports in Russia.

The operations include 50 major oil extraction firms for direct loading transfers. All loading arms connect for a throughput of 2800 cubic meters loading rate for bigger tankers. This allows tankers of 1,50,000 DWT capacity to arrive with better draft features.

The wide oil handling range connects with the Baltic Pipeline and serves at its one end. This comes with a specific terminal for gas loading operations that operates 8-24hrs for cargo.

The 2 phases of pipeline extending onwards span over 1000 kilometres for oil handling. These terminals involve 250 regular employees with camera surveillance measures.

6. Port of Murmansk (Kola Bay, Russia)

UN/Locode: RUMMK Latitude: 68.984125° Longitude: 33.061°

With its location on the northern end of the Arctic circle, Murmansk is the coldest Russian port. It also is the largest to lie on the North of this geography. It is also the geographical North-most amongst the major ports in Russia.

The port helps to house the ice-breaking vessels assisting the larger vessels passing through the Arctic. Its establishment owing to this reason is also quite old, dating back to 1917.

The port operates through its 15 berths, 11 of which are for solid cargo. These berths divide into 2 major port districts or nodes for operation. The general berths operate over 1.5 km in length, while the oil terminals operate on half the figure.

In 2021, Murmansk has figures worth 56 million MT of cargo through its facility. All major bulk cargo operations take place through the gantries at a steady rate. The operates to switch between 16 and 32 MT per hour operation capacity for these.

Meanwhile, the bulk liquid berths vary between 10 to 15 meters in depth. The 3 terminals that use the roadways facility operate the majority of bulk operations.

Despite its challenging location, Murmansk operates round the year. Its expanse has an additional third node for car and container handling tasks. It is the only node with length restrictions, with vessels coming up to 220 meters long.

Major bulk cargo storage facility houses more than 25000 MT in this area. The facility houses over 200 operators for cargo, and less than 100 for ice-breaking requirements.

7. Port of Vladivostok (Vladivostok, Russia)

UN/Locode: RUVVO Latitude: 43.087445° Longitude: 131.9022°

The port of Vladivostok provides Russia with an opportunity to explore the Pacific. It extends towards the south-eastern end and touches the Sea of Japan for the bulk Asian traffic. This facility spreads across 55 hectares and also provides a cultural significance for the Russian landmass.

Vladivostok has a record of handling 24 million MT of cargo for 2021. It is significantly higher than its 13.9 million MT average across the decade. The port’s establishment starts in the 1800s, with free status existence in between.

The terminal operates through its range of 15 berths for general operations. Each of these varies between 10 to 15 meters for depth. The approach through the channel gives a depth of up to 25 meters.

A collection of 200 automatic and semi-automatic loading resources are available overall. This includes the STS, RMG, and RTG facilities operating alongside. The container handling facilities operate round the year for efficient discharging.

Being the south-eastern tip, the Vladivostok network has major relation with Asian ports. 45% and more of their trade flow through Korea, Japan, and China in combination. The layout divides into the universal and the container-specific terminals for operation.

An area of 450,000 sq. meters is available for the warehouse storage and handling of goods. The inter-port handling facilities feature a train map and 2 major truck checkpoints.

Russian Shipping Riches

The sea transport shares a stake worth 112 087 million current USD for the Russian trade. This creates a significant impact for managing international trade, despite the large land area. The concentration of land does not have too big inland waterways, leading to major ocean ports.

Moreover, the testing conditions while operating in the Arctic do not make the cargo movement easier. In such situations, the Russian authorities focus highly on developing the ice-breaking fleet for year-long operations.

With a diverse portfolio, the major ports in Russia handle cargo of every significant use. The country’s latest focus on developing a green corridor is in line with the shipping requirement and future.

You might also like to read:

• 7 Major Ports of South Africa
• 7 Major Ports of the United States
• 7 Major Ports in The United Kingdom
• 10 Major Ports In Brazil
• Top 14 Major Ports in Italy

Disclaimer:  The authors’ views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Marine Insight.  Data and charts, if used, in the article have been sourced from available information and have not been authenticated by any statutory authority. The author and Marine Insight do not claim it to be accurate nor accept any responsibility for the same. The views constitute only the opinions and do not constitute any guidelines or recommendations on any course of action to be followed by the reader.

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