See the Navy
Henry VII built the world’s first dry dock in Portsmouth after choosing Portsmouth as his Royal Dockyard and Portsmouth Harbour remains the traditional home of the Royal Navy. To learn more about naval operations today go to our defence page.Places to Visit
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard has a whole host of attractions, with something for all the family.On entering the dockyard, HMS Warrior greets you, Britain's first iron-hulled, armoured battleship. The pride of Queen Victoria, Warrior revolutionised warship construction. Powered by steam and sail, she was the largest and fastest ship of her day. Her most radical innovation was her citadel - an armoured box housing her guns.
On Britain's most famous warship, the HMS Victory, you can see the cabin where Nelson planned the Battle of Trafalgar and the spot where he died, as well as finding out about the lives of the 800 sailors on board.
Henry VIII's favourite warship, the Mary Rose, which sank off Portsmouth in 1545, can also be seen at Portsmouth along with thousands of Tudor objects recovered from the wreck.
A short hop will take you to Gosport, where you can walk on board a real submarine at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum.
Children will love the gun firings, mock battles and explosive goings on at Royal Armouries Fort Nelson while at the Royal Marines Museum at Southsea they can try on uniforms and pit their wits against the jungle.
You can find out more about Hampshire's fantastic Defence of the Realm attractions in Hampshire County Council’s free Defence of the Realm colour brochure, which features a free poster and discount entry vouchers.
