Historical ship replica anchors down in Portsmouth and opens for public exploration

The ship is staying in Portsmouth's Gunwharf Quays

Galeón Andalucía
Author: Freya TaylorPublished 1st Aug 2025

A historical replica ship of the Spanish Galleons has anchored down in Portsmouth's Gunwharf Quays.

The Galeón Andalucía is staying in the city from the 31st July to the 4th August and opening its decks to the public.

The ship replicates the vessel that travelled the oceans for maritime expeditions during the 16th century through to the 18th century.

Lupo Bathke, Project Manager of Galeon Andalucia, said: "It's so important to be able to share what this ship means, especially to the Spanish, but also in general world history.

"Taking into account that these were basically some of the first merchant ships that started sailing around the world, across the Atlantic and across the Pacific.

"It was basically the start of global trade and was basically the first brick in the wall that is what we today know as globalisation.

"It's very important to us and all the techniques and how life went on on a ship like this is something that's very much lost nowadays in knowledge of how we see the world.

"So being able to share it with people and people actually come up and walk around the decks and explore and see how it looks in real life is quite amazing for everyone onboard."

The ship also acts as a 'school ship' for sea cadets, with the opportunity to learn to sail as Chief Engineers or Officers of the Watch onboard.

It's open to the public from 10am to 8pm.

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