Britannia is a most fitting name for the newest addition to P&O Cruises’ Southampton- based fleet which, with its long and famous heritage, remains Britain’s favourite cruise line.

There have been two previous ships named Britannia, including one which entered service in 1887 and was one of four vessels ordered by the company to mark the Golden Jubilee of both Queen Victoria and P&O itself.

The Golden Jubilee class ship carried 250 first-class passengers and 160 second-class passengers and had a cargo capacity of about 4,000 tons.

The young Winston Churchill sailed on this Britannia with his hussar regiment to Bombay in 1888 and then went on to fight on the North West Frontier.

“Today’s Britain is a place of increasing style and sophistication, optimism and excitement,” said a P&O Cruises spokesman.

“Britain leads the world in style, food and entertainment and Britannia is an embodiment of the best of modern British culture.

“Whilst the name Britannia has great historical resonance with P&O Cruises, most importantly the ship will celebrate the forward-looking Britain of today and the future.”

DID YOU KNOW?

  •  Britannia’s power is equivalent to that of a city of 70,000 inhabitants.
  •  The weight of the steel used in Britannia’s construction is 32,000 tonnes, equivalent to three times that of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
  • Daily production of water on board amounts to 1.8 million one- litre bottles.
  • Britannia has 4,000km of electrical cables – the distance from Venice, Italy, to Southampton and back.