When the Royal Yacht Britannia was decommissioned in 1997 following forty-four years of serving the country, the late Queen Elizabeth II thanked the ship and its crew for providing "great support" to the nation.
Having sailed one million miles, carrying over 700 hundreds royal visits at home and overseas, the Queen hailed the ship's achievements as "a great testament to those who designed and built her."
The year after the ship was decommissioned, it made its way to Leith where it has been an ever-present for 25 years as we approach the momentous anniversary of the Royal Yacht Britannia docking in Edinburgh.
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Thousands lined the dock as the impressive vessel made it way into the harbour in 1998. Many now know it as one of the capital's most popular tourist attractions, welcoming around 350,000 visitors every year.
Images taken on May 5, 1998 show hundreds of excited locals in awe as the vessel sails into Leith Docks, played in by a pipe band.
As well as the ship herself, a special museum is also present within Edinburgh's Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre where visitors can read about every landmark achievement the ship made and just how much the late monarch loved it.
The Royal Yacht was in service from 1954 until 1997 and was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the throne in 1660. During her extensive career, the yacht visited more than 600 ports in 135 different countries.
HMY Britannia, as she is also known by, was built at the shipyard of John Brown & Co. Ltd in Clydebank. The Queen officially launched the vessel on April 16, 1553 and commissioned her on January 11, 1954.
The ship was designed to be converted into a hospital ship in time of war, although this capability was never used. In the event of a nuclear war, it was intended for the Queen and her husband Prince Philip to take refuge onboard off the north-west coast of Scotland.
At 20:00 on 17 January 1986, the Yacht dropped anchor at Khormaksar Beach. Civil war had broken out in South Yemen and ships were urgently required to evacuate British nationals and others trapped by fighting. As a non-combatant Royal Navy ship, Britannia would be able to enter territorial waters without further inflaming the conflict.
In 1994, the government announced the yacht's retirement. It last underwent a major refit in 1987 with a further refit at an estimated cost of £17million necessary in 1996-97 but would only have prolonged her life for a further five years.
In view of her age, even after the refit she would be difficult to maintain and expensive to run.
In a special sending-off ceremony letter, written by the Queen as one last goodbye to Britannia, she said: "Together with members of my family, Prince Phillip and I join you today to pay tribute to Britannia and give our thanks to all who have been part of her company.
"Looking back over forty-four years we can all reflect with pride and gratitude upon this great ship which has served the country, the Royal Navy and my family with such distinction."
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She continued: "It is with sadness that we must now say goodbye to Britannia. It is appropriate that with this final event show bows out in the style which is so typical of the manner in which her business has always been conducted."
Now, the Royal Yacht Britannia has been awarded a five-star visitor attraction status by Best UK Attraction with guests able to discover five decks of stories from the Royal Family and the 220 Royal Yachtsmen who served onboard.
The vessel has also been converted into a luxury floating hotel where guests can stay the night, as well as visit the Royal Deck Tea Room.
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