H.M.Y. Britannia, 5,769 tons, was laid down in June 1952 as successor to the ageing and no longer serviceable royal yacht Victoria and Albert (111). Built by John Brown on the Clyde, Britannia was launched on 16 April 1953 but was still unfinished when H.M. The Queen embarked upon her post-Coronation Commonwealth Tour later that year. Following earlier precedents, the Queen and Prince Philip travelled aboard a specially chartered passenger ship - the Shaw Savill liner Gothic - for most of the tour but left her for the final stages and their return home. Joining Britannia at Tobruk, the Royal Party - by now including Prince Charles and Princess Anne - returned home via Malta and Gibraltar, with Britannia steaming up the Thames to a triumphal welcome in the Pool of London at the end of May 1954.