![]() Britannia departs Cardiff for the last time.
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History | |
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Name | Britannia |
Owner | The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust[1] |
Ordered | 5 February 1952 |
Builder | John Brown & Company, Glasgow, Scotland |
Yard number | 691 |
Laid down | 16 June 1952 |
Launched | 16 April 1953 |
Commissioned | 11 January 1954 |
Decommissioned | 11 December 1997 |
Identification | IMO number: 8635306 |
Status | Museum ship |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage | 5,769 GT |
Length | 412 ft (126 m) |
Beam | 55 ft (17 m) |
Height | 123 ft (37 m) to top of mainmast |
Draught | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
Propulsion | 2 Pametrada steam turbines, 12,000 hp (8,900 kW) |
Speed | 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph) |
Range | 2,400 nautical miles (4,400 km) |
Capacity | 250 guests |
Crew |
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Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia is the former royal yacht of the British monarchy. She was in their service from 1954 until 1997. She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the throne in 1660, and is the second royal yacht to bear the name, the first being the racing cutter built for the Prince of Wales in 1893. During her 43-year career, the yacht travelled more than a million nautical miles around the world to more than 600 ports in 135 countries.[2] Now retired from royal service, Britannia is permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal, Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland, where it is a visitor attraction with over 300,000 visits each year.[3]