One of the final Royal Mail ships is visiting London

Next week will be a very rare chance to see the last of the government’s ocean-going Royal Mail Ships on a visit to London.

The Royal Mail Ship St Helena was built in 1989 specifically to supply the island of St Helena, a British Overseas Territory deep in the tropical South Atlantic.

RMS St Helena

The ship used to carry post and cargo to the remote island, but was decommissioned as a postal vessel just last year, as an airport was built on the island to replace it.

Like many of the Royal Mail Ships, she was also a passenger carrying vessel, and although sold off after it carried the final postal dispatch on behalf of the government, she is now UK owned again and thought to be converted into a private vessel.

She is due to arrive in London, and pass through Tower Bridge on Wed 30th Jan at 9:30am and leave on Fri 1st Feb at 10am.

She will be moored up next to HMS Belfast, although not open to the public to visit, you can see the ship from the riverside.

At time of writing, the ship is moored in Tilbury Docks.

Incidentally, the other ocean going RMS ship will never visit London, as it’s a bit too big — it’s the RMS Queen Mary 2, a massive cruise liner.

from IanVisits http://bit.ly/2HwYc0C