About us
National Historic Ships, with its governing Advisory Committee, was established in 2006 as a non-departmental public body reporting to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport with a specific remit to advise the Secretary of State and other public bodies on ship preservation and funding priorities.
It is the successor to the National Historic Ships Committee, which emerged from a seminar held in 1991 to discuss the problems facing the preservation of historic ships and vessels in the UK and the evident neglect of this important part of our heritage.
Strong support was expressed for the creation of a co-ordinating body which could provide an overview of all aspects of historic ship preservation and the Committee was formally launched on 15 July 1992 by Lord Lewin, then Chairman of Trustees of the National Maritime Museum.
National Historic Ships carries a wider remit than its predecessor body, looking not only at the immediate issues concerning historic vessels in the UK, but also addressing questions relating to the support infrastructure for historic ships, their potential for contributing in the wider economic, social and community context, and by maintaining a watch list of vessels abroad with potential UK significance.
Our aims are set out in our annual reports, and our Forward Plan 2008-2011
