From April 3rd 2014 HMS Alliance; the only surviving WWII era submarine will be ready for her ‘relaunch' after undergoing a major £7m conservation and restoration project.
The 281ft sub, based at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum (RNSM) Gosport serves as a memorial to 5,300 British submariners. She has been completely restored with new interpretation, state of the art lighting and soundscapes which bring the submarine to life.
A visit on board begins with a commissioned film narrated by British Hollywood star and HMS Alliance advocate Ian McShane. With faithfully restored dressing, design and even smells inside the submarine, the visitor can take a journey through every decade of the submarine's service from the 1940's to the 1970's. You can also peer through the working periscopes to view Portsmouth Harbour and meet a veteran submariner who will tell their own personal stories of working beneath the waves.
Designed during WWII for service in the Far East, HMS Alliance was launched in 1945, as victory was achieved. She began a distinguished 28 year career during the Cold War until she retired and became the centrepiece of the Submarine Museum on the Gosport waterfront.
A ticket to HMS Alliance also includes the Royal Navy's first submarine Holland 1 and the only surviving WW2 midget submarine X24.