What's on in the area

Royal Navy Submarine Museum

Daily

Cost: £7; seniors & children £5.50; family ticket (2 adults & up to 4 children) £12.50

Hours: Apr-Oct: 10am-5.30pm
Nov-Mar: 10am-4.30pm

The Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport, just a few minutes by ferry from Portsmouth, offers the chance to step onboard a real submarine and learn what life is like stuck in cramped conditions with enemy ships nearby, as well as to hear heroic tales and learn about the lives of the crew.

A visit to the museum includes: a film; a tour round HMS Alliance; a viewing of Holland One and other submarines; a huge collection of torpedoes; a view of Portsmouth Harbour through the periscopes of HMS Conqueror (of Falklands fame); Remembrance Corner, commemorating those who dedicated their lives to the Submarine Service; and a chance to see what it's like being a captain in the Control Room trainer.

Without a doubt, the centrepiece of the museum is HMS Alliance, a submarine commissioned in 1947, with its own unique tour enhanced by the first-hand experience of ex-submariners as guides. They take you through the Forward Torpedo Tubes, Accommodation Section, Control Room, Domestic Services, Engine and Motor Rooms, ending with the After Ends (aftermost section of a submarine).

In the museum visitors can learn about the history of submarine development, from as far back as the age of Alexander the Great to the present. Then there's the history of the British submarine from the Royal Navy's first one, Holland One, at the beginning of the 20th century through the Second World War and Cold War and up to the present new generation of attack submarines that will never require refuelling.

Royal Navy Submarine Museum