SS Great Britain honour the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Phillip

SS Great Britain has thanked the Duke of Edinburgh for his role in bringing Brunel's ship back to Bristol.

They've paid tribute to Prince Philip, who was on board when she returned home to dock in 1970.

He first visited the ship in the Falkland Islands in 1957 and was the first patron of the SS Great Britain Trust.

A spokesperson for the ship told us about the Duke of Edinburgh’s association with it:

"His first encounter with the SS Great Britain was in January 1957, while on a visit to the Falkland Islands, he piloted a seaplane to view Brunel’s ship in Sparrow Cove.

"Prince Philip was a strong advocate for preserving the nation’s maritime heritage and was hugely supportive of the formation of a Maritime Trust. In 1969 when the SS Great Britain Project formed, he became, and remained, an important supporter.

"He would later become the first Patron of the SS Great Britain Trust.

"Upon the SS Great Britain’s arrival back in Britain from the Falkland Islands, the initial plan had been that HRH would join the salvage teams at Avonmouth on 28 June. However, with an injury to his arm, he had to postpone his first visit which, rescheduled, fortuitously took place on the very day she was floated back into her original Bristol dry dock. Prince Philip was on the top deck (Weather Deck) as the SS Great Britain returned home to her original dock. During this visit he had his arm in a sling yet still explored the ship’s decks and interiors which were in a perilous state with splintering wood and ancient ladders."

Prince Philip visited the SS Great Britain in Bristol several times, including in February 2005 to see the conservation systems and ‘glass sea’ that continue to protect the hull for future generations to see.