The Navy’s most important historical site will undergo a transformation in coming years as Portsmouth dockyard looks to bolster flagging visitor numbers.

Bosses of the site – home to HMS Victory, Victorian ironclad Warrior, Tudor flagship Mary Rose, the RN Museum and Action Stations – say the historic dockyard must move with the times to keep up with other tourist attractions in southern England.

The dockyard prides itself as ‘the south coast’s biggest visitor attraction’.

But last year saw just 325,000 people pay to view the historic ships and museums in the dockyard, with a further 100,000 people wandering around the site for free without actually paying to visit any of the attractions.

Historic dockyard leaders blame a mix of weather, competition from other attractions and free entry to many national museums – especially those in London – for 2003’s disappointing figures.

The good news for the dockyard is that 2005 is looming, with major commemorations for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and the return of the International Festival of the Sea, and that visitor numbers next year could reach the half million mark again.

But historic dockyard chairman Caroline Williams and managing director Alison Alsbury said in the short and long term, visitors would begin to notice major changes.

Revealing the way ahead for the site, they said serious investment would be needed to realise some of the dreams for the historic yard, such as building a new museum for Mary Rose and finding a permanent home for Victory’s fore topsail from Trafalgar – the RN’s ‘Turin shroud’.

“We have something truly world class but we’re not doing enough to make the most of what we have,” said Ms Williams.

“The clock is ticking towards 2005 and we have to do something and something quickly. Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is the Navy’s jewel in the crown.”

Ms Alsbury added: “We want to make the experience for visitors better – but we’re not just a tourist attraction. We have a large educational role to play and we have the potential to be a world-class centre of education.”

One of visitors’ key gripes is that the yard fails to tell the story of hundreds of years of Naval base history continuously.

To aid this story-telling, increasing use will be made of actors recreating characters and activities from the yard’s history.

Further into the future, dockyard bosses want to see the historic base designated a World Heritage Site, a label which will help investment and raise its profile and standing internationally.

Ms Williams added: “In my view we are a world heritage site already – just not in name. If people do not see the dockyard as one of the greatest historical sites in the world, then there’s something wrong.”