A new exhibition looking back at 200 years of history is set to make waves at Medway’s maritime attraction.

RNLI 200: The Exhibition is due to be unveiled at the Historic Dockyard Chatham this month, with fascinating artefacts from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

The display aims to show how the charity has changed over the years, from oar-powered boats and cork lifejackets to innovative technology and modern crew kits.

As part of the exhibition, a lifeboat named by, and after, Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will be on display to the public for the first time.

The RNLB Her Majesty The Queen was named 30 years ago at Ramsgate’s Royal Harbour by Queen Elizabeth II, who was the first monarch to name a lifeboat.

Over the last three decades, the lifeboat has saved 33 lives, aided 175 people and spent more than 3,000 hours at sea.

The Duchess of Edinburgh, who grew up in Brenchley, handed the vessel over to the Chair of the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, Admiral Sir Trevor Soar, and a team of RNLI volunteers at Windsor Castle in December before it made its final journey to the dockyard.

“It’s particularly exciting to be able to share this lifeboat with the public,” says exhibition curator Nick Ball. “When the young Queen Elizabeth II took on royal responsibilities in 1952, she became patron of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, following King George VI and every reigning British monarch since King George IV.

“We know that visitors to the exhibition will be intrigued by the Mersey class all-weather vessel RNLB Her Majesty The Queen, and it’s entirely fitting that this special boat should be the first thing visitors see when they embark on their journey through this thrilling exhibition that tells the story of the RNLI’s 200 year history.

“It is also important to host the lifeboat here at the Historic Dockyard Chatham where Ian Smith and his team look after the RNLI Historic Lifeboat Collection.”

Ian, who is an RNLI volunteer and station manager at the Gravesend Lifeboat Station, has curated the dockyard’s collection of historic lifeboats.

It’s the largest collection in the UK and includes boats that date back as far as 1897.

The RNLI 200 exhibition also features a video projection of the HMS Racehorse’s final voyage, a limited-edition print of Tracey Emin’s 2014 lifeboat painting inspired by her childhood in Margate, personal stories from volunteers and a digital memorial book to commemorate more than 600 crew members who lost their lives at sea.

RNLI 200 opens at the Historic Dockyard Chatham on Saturday, March 23. The exhibition is included with an entry ticket, which can be booked online here.

The exhibition will be open until Sunday, September 1.