The Yellow Submarine in Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 is a large model representation of the submarine featured in the animated film Yellow Submarine, and in the song of that name

Yellow Submarine (song)

"Yellow Submarine" is a 1966 song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney , with lead vocals by Ringo Starr. It was included on the Revolver album and issued as a single, coupled with "Eleanor Rigby". The single went to number 1 on every major British chart, remained at number 1 for four weeks...

 on the Beatles album Revolver

Revolver (album)

Revolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released on 5 August 1966 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous LP, the folk rock inspired Rubber...

. It was built by a group of about 80 apprentices from Cammell Laird's

Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...

 shipyard, for exhibition at the International Garden Festival

International Garden Festival

thumb|200px|right|Commemorative [[coffee]] [[mug]] from the festival, showing a [[cartoon]] [[Liver bird]].The International Garden Festival was a garden festival recognised by the International Association of Horticultural producers and the Bureau of International Exhibitions and held in...

 in Liverpool in 1984. The Submarine was in a garden themed around the Beatles, one of 60 such themed gardens, and was highly popular. The garden took the form of an apple-shaped labyrinth

Labyrinth

In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos...

, containing symbolic references to the group, and included a bronze statue of John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

, which now stands at Liverpool Airport.

The Submarine itself was some 51 feet long (15.62 m) and 15 feet (4.57 m) high, and weighed 18 tons. Built of steel, it had a replica control cabin containing genuine submarine equipment, and twin spiral staircases leading to the bridge, giving a panoramic view of the garden. These were accessible via doorways at the side. Painted in vivid yellow, the hull was tilted as if about to submerge.

After the Festival site closed, the Submarine found a home for several years in Chavasse Park

Chavasse Park

Chavasse park is an open space in the city centre of Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. It was named in commemoration of the Chavasse family; Francis and his twin sons Christopher Maude Chavasse , and Noel Godfrey Chavasse Chavasse park is an open space in the city centre of Liverpool, England,...

, an open space in the city centre, where it was readily visible to traffic entering the city centre from the south. It was retired from public view when its condition deteriorated, but was renovated to find a new home at Liverpool Airport

Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport serving the city of Liverpool and the North West of England. Formerly known as Speke Airport, RAF Speke, and Liverpool Airport the airport is located within the City of Liverpool adjacent to the estuary of the River Mersey some southeast...

in 2005.