The former Royal Yacht has been added to the National Register of Historic Ships following a change in the criteria for selection.

The National Historic Ships Committee (NHSC) has just completed a review of the combined Core Collection and the Designated Vessels Lists which encompasses significant points in UK maritime history and ship technology.

The NHSC recently updated the criteria for inclusion on the register, and can now select from vessels built before 1955 – entry to the lists was previously limited to ships built up to 1945.

A further seven vessels have been added to the Core Collection and Designated Vessels Lists as follows:

Former Royal Yacht Britannia (1953), mv Edmund Gardner (the only large pilot cutter in the world, preserved in Liverpool, 1953), SS Shieldhall (former Clyde sewage boat and passenger ship, now preserved in Southampton, 1955) and PS Waverley (the last sea-going paddle steamer in the world, 1947) have joined the Core Collection as “vessels of pre-eminent national importance”.

LV North Carr (an unpowered light vessel which lay in the Firth of Forth between 1933 and 1975, now in Dundee, 1932), TS Manxman (former Irish Sea ferry, a classic pre-RoRo design now preserved in Sunderland, 1955) and mv Balmoral (a classic diesel ferry and excursion ship from the Clyde, 1949) have been added to the Designated Vessels List as “vessels of substantial heritage merit with a greater regional or local significance.”

Rear Admiral Neil Rankin, Chairman of the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust, said: “I am delighted the Britannia’s unique role in modern British maritime history has been recognised in this way.

“ The timing of this excellent news, nearly 50 years since Britannia’s launch, is particularly welcome as it will help to safeguard Britannia’s long-term future as one of the most popular maritime heritage attractions in the UK.”

Britannia, which celebrates her 50th anniversary in April, decommissioned as the Royal Yacht in late 1997, and is now opened to the public at Edinburgh’s port, Leith.

The National Historic Ships Committee is based at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich (www.nmm.ac.uk) and was formed in 1992 to advise on the preservation of historic ships in the UK.

There are currently more than 900 vessels listed on the National Register of Historic Vessels, details of which are available at www.nhsc.org.uk