Royal Navy Submarine Museum

Royal Navy Submarine Museum

The Royal Navy Submarine Museum sits in Gosport, on the western shore of Portsmouth Harbour, directly opposite the Portsmouth waterfront. It is reached by a short passenger ferry from Portsmouth Harbour Pier — a crossing that itself frames the relationship between Portsmouth and Gosport that shapes the whole naval history of the area.

What the Museum Contains

The centrepiece of the collection is HMS Alliance, a 1945 A-class submarine that visitors can board and move through. Walking the length of a submarine from torpedo room to engine compartment is a physical experience of confined naval service that no shore-based display can replicate. HMS Alliance served in the Royal Navy from 1947 until 1973 and was later preserved as the sole surviving example of its type in the United Kingdom.

The museum also holds Holland 1, the Royal Navy's first submarine, launched in 1901 and recovered from the seabed in 1982. Together, the two boats span most of British submarine history in a single site. The permanent collection covers the development of submarine warfare from its experimental late-Victorian origins through to the nuclear age, with particular attention to the human experience of submarine service.

Getting There from Portsmouth

The most direct route from Portsmouth to the museum is the Gosport Passenger Ferry, which departs from Portsmouth Harbour Pier — the same waterfront point used by Isle of Wight services. The crossing takes a few minutes. The museum is then a short walk from the Gosport ferry landing. Visitors arriving by rail should use Portsmouth Harbour station, which is immediately adjacent to the Harbour Pier ferry terminal.

The U1 bus route also connects Portsmouth with Gosport via Fareham, operated by First Bus, though the passenger ferry is the faster and more direct option for museum-focused visits. Visitors should check current ferry timetables and museum opening arrangements directly with the operators before travelling, as schedules vary seasonally.

Why It Matters

The museum provides a perspective on Portsmouth's naval history that the Historic Dockyard does not. Where the dockyard focuses on surface ships — Nelson's flagship, the Mary Rose, HMS Warrior — the submarine museum traces a different and largely invisible branch of naval service. The harbour crossing itself, looking back at the Portsmouth waterfront from the Gosport side, also offers one of the better views of the city's naval geography.

For visitors spending more than one day in the area, combining the Historic Dockyard with the submarine museum gives a more complete picture of British naval history across several centuries than either site alone.