The International Festivals of the Sea were a series of maritime festivals, which were held in various British port cities between 1996 and 2005. The festivals were intended to be celebrations of the sea, bringing together sailors, musicians, artists, entertainers, ships and boats from all points of the compass. [1] [2]
The first International Festival of the Sea took place in Bristol in 1996, and the key theme was John Cabot's pioneering voyage of discovery to the Americas. As part of the festival, a replica of Cabot's ship, the Matthew , was dedicated prior to its reenactment of Cabot's voyage the following year. [1]
The relative success of the first festival, taken with the declining numbers of visitors to Navy Days, encouraged the Royal Navy to invite the festival to Portsmouth in 1998 and 2001. Unlike the Bristol event, the Portsmouth events had a strong naval component, and effectively combined the maritime heritage aspects of the first festival with the naval public relations aspects of the old Navy Days. [1] Both events were highly successful with over 200,000 visitors to each.
The 2003 festival was held in Edinburgh's port district of Leith. The 2005 International Festival of the Sea returned to Portsmouth as part of the Trafalgar 200 and Sea Britain 2005 festivities to mark the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.
The 2005 Festival of the Sea was the last major event of its type, however, the 2017 Poole Maritime Festival in conjunction with European Maritime Day is set to revive the tradition of popular maritime festivals on 18 to 21 May 2017.[ needs update ]
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, and a component of His Majesty's Naval Service. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service.
A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small number of museum ships that are still operational and thus capable of regular movement.
USS Saipan (LHA-2) was a Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship, the second United States Navy ship named in honor of the World War II Battle of Saipan. Commissioned in 1977, the ship saw service until 2007 when she was decommissioned. In 2009 the ship was sold for scrapping.
Trafalgar Day is the celebration of the victory won by the Royal Navy, commanded by Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, over the combined French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.
HMS Britannia was a King Edward VII-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. She was named after Britannia, the Latin name of Great Britain under Roman rule. The ship was built by Portsmouth Dockyard between 1904 and 1906. Armed with a battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) and four 9.2 in (234 mm) guns, she and her sister ships marked a significant advance in offensive power compared to earlier British battleship designs that did not carry the 9.2 in guns.
The Royal Scots Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Scotland from its origins in the Middle Ages until its merger with the Kingdom of England's Royal Navy per the Acts of Union 1707. There are mentions in Medieval records of fleets commanded by Scottish kings in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. King Robert I developed naval power to counter the English in the Wars of Independence (1296–1328). The build-up of naval capacity continued after the establishment of Scottish independence. In the late fourteenth century, naval warfare with England was conducted largely by hired Scots, Flemish and French merchantmen and privateers. King James I took a greater interest in naval power, establishing a shipbuilding yard at Leith and probably creating the office of Lord High Admiral.
Matthew was a caravel sailed by John Cabot in 1497 from Bristol to Newfoundland, North America. There are two modern replicas – one in Bristol, England and one in Bonavista, Newfoundland.
Étoile du Roy, formerly Grand Turk, is a three-masted sixth-rate frigate, designed to represent a generic warship during the Age of Sail, with her design greatly inspired by HMS Blandford. The ship was built in Marmaris, Turkey, in 1996 to provide a replica of a frigate for the production of the ITV series adapted from the novels about Royal Navy officer Horatio Hornblower by C. S. Forester. Nowadays the tall ship is used mainly in sailing events, for corporate or private charter, and for receptions in her spacious saloon or on her deck. In 2010 the French company Étoile Marine Croisières, based at Saint-Malo, Brittany, purchased the ship and renamed her Étoile du Roy.
Andrew David Lambert is a British naval historian, who since 2001 has been the Laughton Professor of Naval History in the Department of War Studies, King's College London.
The International Festival of the Sea was a festival held at H.M. Naval Base, Portsmouth between 30 June and 3 July 2005. It was the fifth in a series of International Festivals of the Sea held in the United Kingdom since 1996, and was also the final part to the long week of festivities that began with the International Fleet Review 2005 off Spithead, Portsmouth on 28 June 2005. The event allowed people to walk around the Naval Base, to go on board all of the visiting vessels, including several vessels belonging to the Royal Navy and also for visitors to walk through the large sheds of the VT Shipbuilding group on site and see the parts of the Type 45 destroyers, HMS Dauntless and HMS Daring being constructed there.
Colin Saunders White was a British military historian, director of the Royal Naval Museum from 2006 until his death and one of Britain's leading experts on Admiral Horatio Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar.
INS Tarangini is a three-masted barque, commissioned in 1997 as a sail training ship for the Indian Navy. She is square rigged on the fore and main masts and fore-and-aft rigged on the mizzen mast. She was constructed in Goa to a design by the British naval architect Colin Mudie, and launched on 1 December 1995. In 2003–04, she became the first Indian naval ship to circumnavigate the globe.
Portsmouth is an island port city situated on Portsea Island in the county of Hampshire, England. Its history has been influenced by its association with the sea, and its proximity to London, and mainland Europe.
There are many customs and traditions associated with the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. Many of these traditions have carried on to other Commonwealth navies, such as Canada, India, Australia and New Zealand. These include formal customs such as separate crests associated with ships, ensigns and fleet reviews. There are also several less formal customs and traditions, including Naval slang commonly referred to as Jack Speak and the traditional games of Uckers and Euchre.
The International Festival of the Sea was a maritime festival, held in and around the Floating Harbour in the English port city of Bristol. Held from 24 to 27 May 1996, it was the first of a series of International Festivals of the Sea that have since been held in various United Kingdom ports.
The Maritime history of the United Kingdom involves events including shipping, ports, navigation, and seamen, as well as marine sciences, exploration, trade, and maritime themes in the arts from the creation of the kingdom of Great Britain as a united, sovereign state, on 1 May 1707 in accordance with the Treaty of Union, signed on 22 July 1706. Until the advent of air transport and the creation of the Channel Tunnel, marine transport was the only way of reaching the British Isles. For this reason, maritime trade and naval power have always had great importance.
The International Festival of the Sea was held at H.M. Naval Base, Portsmouth between 24 and 27 August 2001. It was the third in a series of International Festivals of the Sea held in the United Kingdom since 1996. The event allowed people to walk around the Naval Base, to go on board many of the visiting vessels, including several vessels belonging to the Royal Navy. It also allowed people to visit the historic dockyard, including HMS Victory and Mary Rose. There were also many maritime displays, street entertainers, military bands, music concerts and unique shops.
The maritime history of England involves events including shipping, ports, navigation, and seamen, as well as marine sciences, exploration, trade, and maritime themes in the arts of England. Until the advent of air transport and the creation of the Channel Tunnel, marine transport was the only way of reaching the rest of Europe from England and for this reason, maritime trade and naval power have always had great importance. Prior to the Acts of Union in 1707, the maritime history of the British Isles was largely dominated by England.
Serco Marine Services is a Private Finance Initiative contract, with Serco Group, to deliver auxiliary services to His Majesty's Naval Service.
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was ordered in 1758, laid down in 1759, and launched in 1765. With 246 years of service as of 2024, she is the world's oldest naval vessel still in commission.