The first person to sail the South Western inlet of what is now British Columbia was George Vancouver in 1792. When surveying the waters, George Vancouver gave name to the area, Howe Sound, in honour of Admiral Richard Howe. Britannia Beach took its name from the nearby Britannia Range of mountains, which form the east wall of the mountainous shore of Howe Sound south of Britannia Beach. About 1859 Royal Navy hydrographer Captain Richards of HMS Plumper named the range of mountains for HMS Britannia, the third of a series of vessels to bear that name. The Britannia was never in these waters.