Six of the best SHIPS WITH STORIES

Exploring some of the UK's maritime stars in their museum moorings, Rhiannon Batten discovers history on the high seas

- Rhiannon Batten

SS Great Britain

Proving the saying ‘shipshape and Bristol fashion', Isambard Kingdom Brunel's vast 1845 passenger steamer sits gleaming on Bristol's waterfront, in the very dock in which it was built. Designed to run between the city and New York, it was the first iron steamer to cross the Atlantic. Later used to transport emigrants to Australia (and tourists - Anthony Trollope wrote Lady Anna aboard one such journey in 1871) it was scuttled in the Falkland Islands in the 1930s, before being rescued in 1970. Now immaculately restored, the ship welcomes you to marvel at its screw propulsion technology and explore steerage and first-class cabins. ssgreatbritain.org

The Mary Rose