The International Festival of the Sea was held at
H.M. Naval Base,
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
between 24 and 27 August 2001. It was the third in a series of
International Festivals of the Sea
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, arti ...
held in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
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
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. 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 F ...
. It also allowed people to visit the historic dockyard, including
HMS ''Victory'' and ''
Mary Rose
The ''Mary Rose'' (launched 1511) is a carrack-type warship of the English Tudor navy of King Henry VIII. She served for 33 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany. After being substantially rebuilt in 1536, she saw her l ...
''. There were also many maritime displays, street entertainers, military bands, music concerts and unique shops.
According to the event's patron,
Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal, the festival was a "celebration of all things maritime".
History
The first International Festival of the Sea took place in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
in 1996 with the Royal Navy as primary participants. Following the declining numbers of visitors to Portsmouth Navy Day's encouraged the Royal Navy to invite the festival to Portsmouth for the first time in 1998. The event was highly successful with over 200,000 visitors. So the festival returned in 2001.
Special Events
Many events were held during the four days of the festival. Most of the spectacular events were military in genre, some displaying the most modern of hardware, whilst others showed of historical equipment. Other events, such as concerts and children's activities.
Operation Island Storm
The main military event of the festival was ''Operation Island Storm'', a demonstration of British military ability confronted by a situation most likely in today's world. It involved a hostage situation off the West African coast, and the
Royal Marines
The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
operation to free them.
A specially constructed island in the harbour was the site of the action, which was held every afternoon of the event. It was the biggest display of British military hardware during the whole of 2001.
Lists of Ships
Numerous ships of different capacities and from various nations attended the event.
''These lists are not complete''
Royal Navy Ships
*
Type 42 destroyer
**
**
**
**
**
**
*
Type 23 frigate
**
**
**
**
**
*
**
*
**
**
*
**
**
* Other Ships
**
**
**
RV ''Triton''
Ships of Other Navies
* -
* -
* -
* -
Tall Ships
* ''
Albatros'' -
* ''Artemis'' -
* ''Astrid'' -
* ''
Christian Radich
''Christian Radich'' is a Norwegian full-rigged ship, named after a Norwegian shipowner. The vessel was built at Framnæs shipyard in Sandefjord, Norway, and was delivered on 17 June 1937. The owner was The Christian Radich Sail Training Foundati ...
'' -
* ''
Cisne Branco
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*''For the similarly named official march of the Brazilian Navy, see Cisne Branco (march)''
''Cisne Branco'' is a tall ship of the Brazilian Navy based at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to diplomatic operations worldwide. The name means "white swan." ...
'' -
* -
* ''
Dar Młodzieży
''Dar Młodzieży'' ( pl, Gift of the Youth) is a Polish sail training ship designed by Zygmunt Choreń. A prototype of a class of six, the following five slightly-differing units were built subsequently by the same shipyard for the merchant fleet ...
'' -
* ''
Europa
Europa may refer to:
Places
* Europe
* Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace
* Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro
* Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development
* Europa Cliff ...
'' -
* ''
Grand Turk'' -
* ''Granvillaise'' -
* ''
Kaliakra
Kaliakra ( bg, Калиакра; ro, Caliacra) is a cape in the Southern Dobruja region of the northern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, which ends with a long and narrow headland east of Kavarna, northeast of Varna and southwest of Mangalia. The ...
'' -
* ''La Recouvrance'' -
* ''Lord Nelson'' -
* ''Matthew'' -
* ''
Mir
''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...
'' -
* ''
Oosterschelde
The Eastern Scheldt ( nl, Oosterschelde) is a former estuary in the province of Zeeland, Netherlands, between Schouwen-Duiveland and Tholen on the north and Noord-Beveland and Zuid-Beveland on the south. It also features the largest national ...
'' -
* ''ORP Iskra'' -
* ''Palinuro'' -
* ''
Pogoria'' -
* ''Prince William'' -
* ''Renard'' -
* ''
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...
'' -
* ''
STS Sedov'' -
* ''
Shabab Oman Two ships of the Royal Navy of Oman
The Royal Navy of Oman ( ar, البحرية السلطانية العمانية), abbreviated RNO, is the maritime component of the Royal Armed Forces of the Sultanate of Oman. Given its long coastline and st ...
'' -
* ''Shtandart'' -
* ''Sorlandet'' -
* ''Statsraad Lehmkhul'' -
* ''
Swan fan Makkum
''Swan fan Makkum'' is a brigantine, built in 1993 in the Gdansk shipyard, Poland. Named for Willem Sligting, Makkum, christened by Hinke de Vries, co-owner and wife, in a multilingual fashion: English, Polish and Frysian and after the ceremony lau ...
'' -
* ''Zenobe Gramme'' - {{flag, Belgium
Sponsors
*
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...
*
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
*
BP
*
Vosper Thornycroft
VT Group is a privately held United States defense and services company, with its origins in a former British shipbuilding group, previously known as Vosper Thornycroft. The British part of VT Group was integrated into Babcock International in t ...
*
Royal Mail
, kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga
, logo = Royal Mail.svg
, logo_size = 250px
, type = Public limited company
, traded_as =
, foundation =
, founder = Henry VIII
, location = London, England, UK
, key_people = * Keith Williams ...
*
Raytheon Systems Limited
* Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
* Portsmouth City Council
References
* International Festival of the Sea, 2001 - Official Souvenir Programme
2001 in England
Festivals in Hampshire
Royal Navy
2000s in Hampshire