Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of the Royal Yacht Britannia.
On this page
A royal yacht and her home in Leith
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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16 April 1953
Launched
Queen Elizabeth II launches Britannia at John Brown & Company’s shipyard in Clydebank.
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11 January 1954
Commissioned
Britannia is commissioned as the Royal Yacht.
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1973
A royal honeymoon
Princess Anne and Mark Phillips begin their honeymoon on board.
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1981
Another honeymoon
The Prince and Princess of Wales begin their honeymoon on board.
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1986
Aden
Britannia helps evacuate more than 1,000 people from the civil war in Aden.
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1 July 1997
Hong Kong
After the Hong Kong handover, Britannia makes her last foreign mission.
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11 December 1997
Decommissioned
Britannia leaves royal service.
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1998
Open to visitors
Britannia opens to visitors in Leith.
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2010
Bloodhound
The Trust buys Bloodhound, a 1936 racing yacht once owned by the Queen and Prince Philip.
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2016
Five million visitors
Britannia welcomes her five millionth visitor.
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2023
Twenty-five years
Britannia marks 25 years as a visitor attraction.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
