Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
HMS
Warrior 1860,
the Mary Rose Museum, and the National Museum of the Royal
Navy are linked on a single admission that costs £20 for adults, £17 for seniors, £14
for children 5 to 15 and students, and £56 for a family. The ticket also includes a boat
trip around the harbor (summer months only). Stop by the visitor center at the
His-
toric Dockyard,
Victory Gate, The Hard (
&
023/9283-9766
), or buy tickets
online at
www.historicdockyard.co.uk
. The center is open April through October,
daily 10am to 6pm; and November through March, daily 10am to 5:30pm. Last ticket
sales are 1
1
⁄
2
hours before closing. There's also plenty going on at
twitter.com/
PompeyDockyard
.
HMS
Victory
HISTORIC SITE The highlight of any visit to the Historic
Dockyard is the engaging 45-minute guided tour of Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship, a
104-gun, first-rate ship that is the oldest commissioned warship in the world, built
from over 3,000 trees and launched May 7, 1765. It earned its fame on October 21,
1805, in the Battle of Trafalgar, when the English scored a victory over the combined
Spanish and French fleets. The spot on the upper deck where Nelson was shot by a
French sniper is marked with a plaque, as is the area below-decks where he lived the
final minutes of his illustrious life. His flagship, after being taken to Gibraltar for
repairs, returned to Portsmouth with Nelson's body pickled in one of the ship's brandy
barrels. Tall visitors should be prepared for lots of ducking while below-decks.
See above for address and admission prices. Apr-Oct daily 10am-4:30pm; Nov-Mar daily 10am-
3:45pm. Closed Dec 24-26.
Mary Rose
Museum
MUSEUM The
Mary Rose,
flagship of the fleet of King
Henry VIII's wooden men-of-war, sank in the Solent Channel in 1545 in full view of
the king. In 1982, the
Mary Rose
once again broke the water's surface after more than
4 centuries on the ocean floor, not exactly in shipshape condition, but surprisingly
well preserved. The hull and more than 20,000 items brought up by divers constitute
England's most significant aquatic archeological discovery. On display are the equip-
ment of the ship's barber-surgeon, with cabin saws, knives, ointments, and plaster all
ready for use; longbows and arrows, some still in shooting order; carpenters' tools;
leather jackets; and some fine lace and silk.
Note:
The hull of the
Mary Rose
is closed to the public until late 2012 while a new
£35-million museum is constructed over the remains of the vessel. The current Mary
Rose Museum remains open throughout.
See above for address and admission prices. Apr-Oct daily 10am-5:30pm; Nov-Mar daily 10am-
4:45pm. Closed Dec 24-26.
National Museum of the Royal Navy
MUSEUM Twin sites on the Dockyard
make up the only museum in Britain devoted exclusively to the history of the Royal
Navy. The best of the multimedia displays focuses on the “real” Horatio Nelson, the
revered Admiral and naval hero who lost an eye at the Siege of Calvi in 1794, lost an
arm at the Battle of Tenerife in 1797, and was killed aboard HMS
Victory
at Trafalgar
in 1805. Additionally, there are unique collections of ship models, naval ceramics,
figureheads, medals, uniforms, weapons, and other naval memorabilia.
See above for address and admission prices. www.royalnavalmuseum.org. Apr-Oct daily 10am-5pm;
Nov-Mar daily 10am-4:15pm. Closed Dec 24-26.
Royal Navy Submarine Museum
MUSEUM Across Portsmouth Harbour in
Gosport lies HMS
Alliance
, now part of the Submarine Museum, which traces the
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