Prince Philip has visited the SS Robin, thought to be the world's oldest complete steamship, 40 years after he started a campaign to have her restored.
The visit marked the start of the final phase of a five-year, £3m restoration after the SS Robin Trust bought the ship from the Cutty Sark for £1 in 2001. It is hoped the work will be completed in 2014.
The Duke of Edinburgh started his campaign to preserve the steamship in the 1970s and described it as the "jet plane of its day".
During World War I, SS Robin carried iron slabs for the French government from Santiago to Bayonne and Burdeos and during the Spanish Civil War the ship stayed at San Esteban de Pravia from 1935 to 1939.
SS Robin is one of only three 'Core Collection' ships of the National Historic Fleet in London, including the Cutty Sark and HMS Belfast.
During his visit the prince unveiled a plaque to inaugurate SS Robin's new permanent home in Royal Victoria Dock, Newham - a mile from where it was constructed on the River Lea at the Thames Ironworks Shipyard in 1890.
SS Robin's permanent home will be the Royal Victoria Dock, in London's East End, which used to be the largest enclosed docks in the world.
