Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia is the former Royal Yacht of the British Royal Family. She is the second Royal yacht to bear the name, the first being the famous racing cutter built for The Prince Of Wales in 1893. She is now permanently moored as an exhibition ship at Ocean Terminal, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland.
HMY Britannia was built at the shipyard of John Brown & Co, Ltd in Clydebank, being launched by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 16 April 1953 and commissioned on 11 January 1954. The ship was designed with three masts, a 133-foot (41 m) foremast, a 139-foot (42 m) mainmast, and a 118-foot (36 m) mizzenmast. The top 20 feet (6.1 m) of the foremast and mainmast were hinged, to allow the ship to pass under bridges.
During her career as Royal Yacht she conveyed the Queen, other members of the Royal Family, and various dignitaries on 696 foreign visits and 272 visits in British waters. In this time Britannia steamed 1,087,623 nautical miles (2,014,278 km).
The Royal Yacht's last foreign mission was to convey the last governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten and the Prince of Wales,away from Hong Kong after the handover of the British colony to the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997. Britannia was decommissioned on 11 December 1997.
She is seen here arriving Leith 5th May 1998
Seen having a touch up on the 20th July 1998
Alongside her previous berth on the 7th June 1999
Same berth different day (20th November 1999)
Alongside her new berth taken from MT Fidra during The International Festival Of The Sea event
A night shot of the yacht
Stern shot of the yacht
Final shot of Britannia on the Clyde passing the "bovril boat" Dalmarnock Head - A human waste disposal vessel. Oh how the other half live!
