hmy britannia (royal cutter yacht)

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Sailing Yacht Britannia

In April 1893, some 20 years into G. L. Watson ’s trail blazing career, the royal sailing yacht  Britannia was launched. The prestige associated with this order from the Price of Wales, Britannia’s revolutionary design, enduring beauty, speed and a 43 year career in the ownerships of King Edward VII and King George V have all contributed to the Britannia legend.

The Royal sailing yacht Britannia racing Career

Britannia was built at D&W Henderson’s shipyard on the Clyde alongside her near sister, the America’s Cup challenger Valkyrie II . Her spoon bow was controversial and Watson was initially condemned for experimenting on such a prestigious commission, but it was not long before her admirable qualities were recognised and the perfection of hull form became known as the ‘ Britannia ideal’.

In the great season of 1893, Britannia acted as a trial horse for America’s Cup challenger Valkyrie II and saw off the challenge of the Herreshoff designed Navahoe to dominate racing in British waters. The following year when America’s Cup victor Vigilant raced in Britain in what was mooted as a re-run of the America’s Cup races, Britannia dominated; upholding British racing prowess after the loss of Valkyrie II .

The introduction of a new rating rule in 1896 gave Watson the opportunity to out-design Britannia , but the arrival of the Kaiser’s Meteor II killed off both the King’s pleasure and his prospects of winning. In 1898 Edward VII sold Britannia , but soon regretted it and by 1902 she was back in his ownership and once again became a regular sight on the British regatta circuit. Inherited by George V in 1910, Britannia was updated and again raced successfully in the British Big Class. The lead provided by George V in fitting out Britannia for the 1920 season re-established the Big Class in the aftermath of World War I and paved the way for the likes of Cambria , Astra and the J Class.

Conversion to J-Class

Following Watson’s early death in 1904, all leading British yacht designers were involved in the regular updating of the royal sailing yacht  Britannia . In 1930 it was Charles E. Nicholson ’s turn and he designed what remains the world’s tallest wooden mast for her. In 1931 Britannia emerged rejuvenated to race competitively with the J Class against which she would add a further 15 firsts to her racing record.

Britannia’s last season was the summer of 1935, when the American J Class Yankee visited British waters, in what was the last great flourishing of Big Class racing. Then with the King’s health failing she was withdrawn from racing and on 10th July 1936 her great career came to an end. As per the dying wishes of George V, she was towed out to St. Catherine’s Deep off the Isle of Wight and scuttled.

Although not a sailor, King Edward VIII fully appreciated the affection that surrounded Britannia and after she was scuttled, he commanded that G. L. Watson & Co. be presented with a memento of what remains the most successful racing yacht of all time. This souvenir of Britannia is held in the G.L. Watson Archive together with the original drawings.

G.L. Watson & Co. Ltd. 20-23 Woodside Place, Glasgow G3 7QL, Scotland

Tel: +44 (141) 501 0480

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The Story Behind the Royal Family's Yacht, Britannia

The ship hosted four royal honeymoons in its 44 years of service.

The royal family has a long history of seafaring—the first official royal yacht was the HMY Mary (HMY stands for His or Her Majesty's Yacht) , gifted to Charles II by the Dutch in 1660. In fact, over the centuries the monarchy has utilized 83 royal yachts, including the most recent, the HMY Britannia .

Often referred to as the last royal yacht, the Britannia was decommissioned in 1997, and despite some efforts , there are no signs of a new one in the near future. Though its seafaring days may be behind it (the ship now serves as a tourist attraction in Edinburgh, Scotland), the Britannia remains an important artifact and a peek behind the curtain of royal life—it even garnered a prominent place in the fifth season of The Crown . Below, a few of its most notable moments throughout history.

It was the first royal yacht designed for ocean travel.

The ship was built by John Brown & Co at the same shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland in the same location the famous ocean liners the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary were constructed. With 12,000 horsepower, the ship could travel at a maximum 22.5 knots (approximately 25 miles per hour), ideal for ocean-going diplomacy. Prior to its launch in 1953, the royal family used ships from the Royal Navy or even passenger liners for the overseas portions of the royal tour.

In its 44 years of service, the HMY Britannia traveled around 1.1 million miles.

It was commissioned just two days before the death of King George VI.

The King was already in failing health by the time the designs for the HMY Britannia were submitted, and the hope was that traveling might help alleviate some of his symptoms. However, just two days after the John Brown shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland received the order the King passed away on February 6, 1952.

It would take just over a year for the ship to be completed, during which time its name remained a secret—it wasn't announced until the ship's official launch in April of 1953, less than two months before the Queen's coronation . Elizabeth cracked a bottle of English wine (in the post-war era, champagne was considered too extravagant for the launch of a ship) and announced, "I name this ship Britannia … I wish success to her and all who sail in her."

It was created to double as a hospital.

When Britannia was first envisioned, less than a decade after the end of World War II, the designers sought to make it as functional as possible, crafting a space that could be converted from an ocean-going royal residence to a seafaring hospital during any possible future wartime. The main veranda was laid out and re-enforced so that it could support a helicopter landing and the laundry was made much larger than on a standard naval vessel to accommodate the potential patients. Though the ship was never actually put to that purpose, it was pressed into service on a rescue mission to help evacuate European nationals from South Yemen in 1986.

The ship was home to a lot of history.

Long before it became a floating museum, the Britannia had an eye for history. The gold and white binnacle housed on the ship's veranda deck was originally part of the HMY Royal George , a royal yacht that served Queen Victoria . Likewise, some of the bed linens used by Queen Elizabeth aboard the vessel were originally made for Victoria's bed for one of the previous royal yachts.

Britannia's steering wheel was lifted from her namesake, the racing yacht HMY Britannia , built in 1893 for King Edward VII .

It was redesigned to be less opulent.

Despite the sense of luxury that the term "royal yacht" inspires, the Queen and Prince Philip were actually concerned when they began overseeing the project in 1952 that the original interior design plans by the design firm McInnes Gardner & Partners were too lavish for a country still recovering from the war. The interiors were ultimately redesigned by Sir Hugh Casson and received very minimal updates throughout her 44 years of service.

But it still had homey touches—by royal standards.

Suffice to say that even low-key royal living is a fairly high class. In addition to the 56-seat State Dining Room, which hosted luminaries including Winston Churchill, Noel Coward, Nelson Mandela, and multiple US Presidents, the ship also sported a formal staircase where the Queen would greet guests, separate bedrooms and sitting rooms for both Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh, and a phone system designed to match the unique configurations of Buckingham Palace's telephones.

In the early years of the Britannia's life it was also home to the Queen's Rolls-Royce Phantom V which was hoisted and lowered from a special garage compartment at port so that the Queen could drive her own car at each location. The space was ever so slightly too small, forcing the bumpers to be removed in order to get it into the garage without damage and then refitted when the car was removed. Ultimately Elizabeth began using cars provided for her at port instead and the garage was converted into a storage area for beer.

The steering crew couldn't see where they were going.

Life on board the HMY Britannia was far from typical for her crew. To begin with, due to the prestige and pressure of the position, the commanding officer of the royal yacht was always a flag officer, most commonly a Rear Admiral, although the first two to serve were Vice Admirals, and Britannia 's final CO was a Commodore.

While working, the crew reportedly used hand signals to communicate rather than shouting orders, in order to maintain a sense of quiet and calm for the royal residents. It was also the last ship in the royal navy where the crew members slept in hammocks, a practice that they maintained until 1973.

Perhaps the most unusual element of the ship's functioning, though, was the steering. While on most ships, the steering wheel sits on the bridge, overlooking the front of the vessel, Britannia 's was on the deck below, in the wheelhouse, which meant that the yachtsmen who were actually doing the steering couldn't see where they were going. The crew got around this rather surprising pitfall by using voice pipes from the bridge to confer navigational orders.

It was a royal honeymoon essential.

No fewer than four royal couples celebrated their honeymoons in the HMY Britannia 's honeymoon suite (the only room onboard with a double bed.)

Princess Margaret started the tradition in 1960 for her Caribbean honeymoon with Anthony Armstrong-Jones , a quiet, formal affair where dinners were taken in full evening dress every night. Things didn't go quite as smoothly for Princess Anne on her honeymoon with Captain Mark Phillips in 1973—storms and 20-foot waves left the couple stricken with seasickness for the first week of their Caribbean cruise. Prince Charles and Princess Diana famously spent their 1981 honeymoon on a Mediterranean cruise aboard the yacht. The crew managed to duck the press so efficiently they garnered the nickname "the ghost ship." The final royal honeymoon aboard the Britannia was taken by Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson , Duchess of York in 1986 when the couple traveled around the Azores.

And a family vacation spot.

In addition to her diplomatic duties on royal tours and her service as a post-wedding retreat, the Britannia was also a vessel for family vacations. During the summer months, the royal family would often take off on what became known as the Western Isles tour, cruising around the western isles of Scotland. During the trip, the family would play games and have barbecues on the islands. The stairway off of the veranda was sometimes even converted into a waterslide for the younger royals. The tour often included a stop off at the Castle of Mey to visit the Queen Mother, then making berth in Aberdeen so that the Queen could travel to her favorite summer home, Balmoral .

The Queen openly wept when HMY Britannia was decommissioned in 1997.

With so many memories around the yacht, it's not hard to understand why the decommissioning of the Britannia was upsetting for the royal family. Though plans were initially drawn up for a replacement yacht, the government ultimately determined not to fund the effort. After the Queen officially took her leave of it in 1997, the ship was placed in the port of Leith in Scotland where it serves as a floating museum and events venue . All of the clocks on board remain stopped at 3:01, the exact time that Her Majesty disembarked for the last time.

It was used for a reception for Zara Phillips before her wedding.

Though it's no longer used as their private vessel, the Britannia 's connection to the royal family didn't end in 1997. In 2011 on the night before her wedding, the Queen's oldest granddaughter Zara Phillips contracted the ship for a reception. Though her grandmother wasn't in attendance Zara celebrated her upcoming marriage to Mike Tindall onboard along with her mother and her cousins Prince Harry, Prince William and Kate, Princess Eugenie, and Princess Beatrice.

Lauren Hubbard is a freelance writer and Town & Country contributor who covers beauty, shopping, entertainment, travel, home decor, wine, and cocktails.

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• The HMY Britannia is an excellent museum ship in the UK, alongside other famous naval ships like the HMS Victory.
• The Britannia served as a royal residence for the British Monarchy and had a crew of volunteers from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
• Visitors can explore the Britannia in Edinburgh, learning about the Royal Family's accommodations and enjoying attractions like the Royal Sailing Exhibition.

The Royal Yacht Britannia (or Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia ) is one of the more unusual ship museums in the United Kingdom (the United States has its two equivalent preserved Presidential Yachts to explore). She serviced between 1954 and 1997 and is now a museum open to the public in Edinburgh, one of the most beautiful cities to explore in the UK.

The HMY Royal Yacht Britannia is one of the United Kingdom's number of excellent museum ships worth visiting, including the HMS Victory (the oldest naval ship still floating) .

What To Know Of The HMY Britannia - The Royal Floating Residence

The HMY Britannia is the old royal yacht of the British monarchy and was the 83rd vessel since King Charles II in 1660 to serve the Royal Family. During her period of service, she was one of the Royal residences of the Royal Family (visitors can explore many of the Royal residences in London and Edinburgh today ).

• Displacement: 5,769 Gross Tons
• Length: 412 feet or 126 meters
• Capacity: 250 guests, 21 officers, and 250 Royal Yachtsmen

She was designed with three masts. She was even intended to be a place of refuge for the royal family in the time of war off the northwest coast of Scotland. She was also designed to be converted into a hospital ship in case of war (but that never happened).

• HMY Britannia was used to evacuate some 1,000 refugees from Yemen in 1986.

Related: How To Vacation Aboard A Charter Yacht Without Breaking The Bank

History & Service Of The HMY Britannia

HMY Britannia went on to travel over a million nautical miles around the proverbial Seven Seas calling into over 600 ports in some 135 countries.

• Miles: 1,087,623 nautical miles (2,014,278 km)
• Visits: 696 Foreign Visits, 272 Domestic British Visits

She was crewed by volunteers from the Royal Navy (some went on to serve aboard her for more than 20 years). She also had a detachment of the Royal Marines aboard. She was also escorted by a Royal Navy warship when she was on royal duties.

Britannia's maiden voyage took her from Portsmouth in England to Grand Harbour in Malta. In 1959, she sailed the newly opened Saint Lawrence Seaway as she made her way to Chicago (it was the first time a British monarch had visited Chicago).

• Commissioned: 1954
• Decommissioned: 1997

Over her 43-year career, she welcomed Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton aboard. She was decommissioned in 1997 and she was not replaced.

There have been suggestions to replace the Royal Yacht, but as of 2023, it seems these plans have gone nowhere.

In the past, yachts were important for heads of state to get around, but now they mostly fly.

Related: Visit Hillsborough Castle: The Royal Residence Of Northern Ireland

What To Know About Visiting The HMY Britannia

The HMY Britannia is one of the most notable attractions in Edinburgh today and is open to the public. The Britannia is a popular location in the city and attracts some 300,000 visitors every year.

Visitors can discover her rooms and secrets across five decks. Along the way, visitors learn about where the Royal Family would stay and the rooms and cabins for her 220 Royal Yachtsmen who served on her.

Admission comes with a free audio guide. Notable attractions on the five decks of the Britannia include the bridge, Queen Elizabeth II's favorite room, the crew quarters, the engine room, and browsing the Royal Sailing Exhibition.

• Location: Berthed at Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh, Scotland
• Admission: £18.50 ($24) - Adults

Opening Hours:

• April To August: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm (Last Admission 4:00 pm)
• November to December: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm (Last Admission 3:00 pm)

This is a British ship so naturally the Britannia Museum offers a cup of tea. Take the time to relax in the Royal Deck Tearoom and enjoy a soup, cake, scone, tea, coffee, or other refreshments while gazing out over the waterfront.

The admission hours vary throughout the year and the last admission is two hours before closing time. The Royal Yacht Britannia is closed on New Year's Day and Christmas Day.

The tickets can't be booked in advance, and they can only be booked in person at the Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre. For more information about visiting the Royal Yacht, refer to its website .

Those who would like to take their visit to the next level can consider staying the night on the museum's sister ship, the Fingal . The Fingal is Scotland's only luxury floating hotel and is moored near the Royal Yacht. She has 22 luxurious cabins and comes with the Fingal Lighthouse Restaurant & Bar.

While in Edinburgh take the time to visit the Palace of Holyroodhouse , the royal home of Scotland and then British monarchs. In England, visit Windsor Castle and see the longest continuously occupied palace in the world .

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Everything you need to know about Queen Elizabeth’s Yacht Britannia

HMY Britannia by Tower Bridge. Credit: Lynda Poulter via Wikimedia Commons.

In service from 1954 until 1997, HMY Britannia is the former royal yacht of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the British throne in 1660 and had HMY Mary built for him by the Dutch East India Company, and the second royal yacht to bear the name, the first being a racing cutter built for the Prince of Wales in 1893.

During her 43-year career, the yacht travelled more than a million nautical miles around the globe. Today, she is an award-winning visitor attraction and evening events venue permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal, Leith, in Edinburgh.

HMY Britannia was built in Scotland at the shipyard of John Brown & Co. Ltd. in Clydebank, West Dumbartonshire. It was launched by the Queen on 16 April 1953 and commissioned on 11 January 1954.

She sailed on her maiden voyage from Portsmouth to Grand Harbour, Malta, on 14 April 1954, carrying Prince Charles and Princess Anne to Malta, to Malta in order for them to meet their parents at the end of the royal couple’s Commonwealth Tour.

On 20 July 1959,  Britannia  sailed the newly opened Saint Lawrence Seaway en route to Chicago, where she docked, making the Queen the first Canadian monarch to visit the city. US President Dwight D. Eisenhower was aboard  Britannia  for part of this cruise; Presidents Ford, Reagan and Clinton were subsequently welcomed aboard the yacht.

Britannia  was designed to be converted into a hospital ship in time of war, with space for an estimated 200 patients. Although the ship was never used in this capacity, as she sailed down the Red Sea in January 1986, en route to Australia, she was asked to play the equally challenging role of rescue ship, to evacuate British nationals and others trapped in South Yemen, where civil war had broken out. Moreover, in the event of nuclear war, Britannia was to be used as a refuge and base of operations for the Queen. The plan, codenamed “Python system”, would have had the ship located on the northwest coast of Scotland in sea lochs with Her Majesty, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Home Secretary safely on board.

The royal yacht played host to four royal honeymoons: Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones visited the West Indies in 1960; Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips also chose the Caribbean in 1973; Prince Charles and Princess Diana travelled around the Mediterranean in 1981 and finally the Duke and Duchess of York visited the Azores in 1986. Most recently, Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall held their pre-wedding reception on board the yacht in July 2011.

The State Drawing Room. Credit: Marianna Bozzoli.

Britannia ’s last foreign mission was to Hong Kong for the transfer of sovereignty from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic of China on 1 July 1997.  The ship set sail for Hong Kong in January and served to escort British Governor Christopher Patten and the Prince of Wales back to the UK.

In 1997, the Conservative government committed itself to replacing the Royal Yacht if re-elected, while the Labour Party refused to disclose its plans for the vessel. After Tony Blair’s Labour won the general election in May 1997, it announced the vessel was to be retired and no replacement would be built. The previous government had argued that the cost was justified by its role in foreign policy and promoting British interests abroad.

The Queen has since chartered the MV Hebridian Princess , a private charter cruise ship, on two separate occasions for family trips around the Scottish islands.

When HMY Britannia would come into port, blowing its foghorns, the Queen herself would reportedly imitate the foghorn noise, much to the amusement of anyone in earshot. Then she and the Duke of Edinburgh would travel ashore on the royal barge, built in 1964 to replace to previous one, which had originally belonged to the royal yacht Victoria and Albert III .

Unlike most ships, Britannia was the only ships in the world where the captain was always an Admiral.  The crew were volunteers from the Royal Navy, officers were appointed for a period of two years, while enlisted crew (known as “yachtsmen”) served for one-year periods, after which they could be admitted to “The Permanent Royal Yacht Service”.  If accepted the Royal Yachtsmen were permitted to serve until they left the Royal Yacht Service or were expelled for medical or disciplinary reasons.  An attachment of Royal Marines would also be stationed on the yacht when the Royal Family was present. Service on the royal yacht attracted no extra pay, allowances or leave.

Everything was done to preserve the Royal Family’s tranquillity: most orders were not given verbally, but by hand signal; soft-soled plimsolls were worn and any work near the royal apartments had to be completed by 8.00AM.

The Queen’s Bedroom. Credit: Marianna Bozzoli.

HMY Britannia was the last ship in the Royal Navy to have hammocks in sailors’ quarters.

During her career as Royal Yacht,  Britannia  conveyed the Queen, other members of the Royal Family and various dignitaries on 696 foreign visits and 272 visits in British waters. In this time,  Britannia  steamed 1,087,623 nautical miles (2,014,278 km).

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10 Facts About Royal Yacht Britannia

Peta Stamper

28 nov 2022.

The 83rd and last in a long line of royal yachts, HMY Britannia has become one of the most famous ships in the world. Now permanently moored at Edinburgh’s Port of Leith, the floating palace is a visitor attraction welcoming some 300,000 people aboard each year.

For Queen Elizabeth II, Britannia was the ideal residence for state visits and peaceful royal family holidays and honeymoons. For the British public, Britannia was a symbol of Commonwealth. For the 220 naval officers who lived aboard Britannia , and the royal family, the 412-foot-long yacht was home.

Having travelled more than a million nautical miles over 44 years of service to the British Crown, Her Majesty’s beloved boat was decommissioned in 1997. Here are 10 facts about life aboard HMY Britannia.

1. Britannia was launched by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 April 1953 using a bottle of wine, not champagne

Champagne is traditionally smashed against a ship’s hull during launching ceremonies. However, in a post-war climate champagne was seen as too frivolous, so a bottle of Empire wine was used instead.

Britannia launched from the John Brown & Company shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland.

2. Britannia was the 83rd Royal Yacht

King George VI , Elizabeth II’s father, had first commissioned the royal yacht that would become Britannia in 1952. The previous official boat had belonged to Queen Victoria and was rarely used. The tradition of royal yachts had been started by Charles II in 1660.

George decided that the Royal Yacht Britannia should both be a regal vessel as well as a functional one.

3. Britannia had two emergency functions

Britannia was designed to be converted into a hospital ship in time of war, although that function was never used. Additionally, as part of the Cold War plan Operation Candid, in the event of nuclear war the ship would become a refuge off the north-west coast of Scotland for the Queen and Prince Philip.

4. Her maiden voyage was from Portsmouth to Grand Harbour in Malta

She carried Prince Charles and Princess Anne to Malta to meet the Queen and Prince Philip at the end of the royal couple’s Commonwealth tour. The Queen stepped aboard Britannia for the first time in Tobruk on 1 May 1954.

Over the next 43 years, Britannia would transport the Queen, members of the Royal Family and various dignitaries on some 696 foreign visits.

The HMY Britannia on a visit by the Queen to Canada in 1964

Image Credit: Royal Canadian Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

5. Britannia hosted some of the 20th century’s most notable figures

In July 1959, Britannia sailed the newly opened Saint Lawrence Seaway to Chicago where she docked, making the Queen the first British monarch to visit the city. US President Dwight Eisenhower hopped aboard Britannia for part of the journey.

In later years, Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton would also step aboard. Charles and Diana, the Prince and Princess of Wales, took their honeymoon cruise on Britannia in 1981.

6. The crew were volunteers from the Royal Navy

After 365 days’ service, crew members could be admitted to the Permanent Royal Yacht Service as Royal Yachtsmen (‘Yotties’) and serve until they either chose to leave or were dismissed. As a result, some yachtsmen served on  Britannia  for over 20 years.

The crew also included a detachment of Royal Marines, who would dive underneath the ship each day while moored away from home to check for mines or other threats.

7. All royal children were allocated a ‘Sea Daddy’ on board the ship

The ‘sea daddies’ were primarily tasked with looking after the children and keeping them entertained (games, picnics and water fights) during voyages. They also oversaw the children’s chores, including cleaning the life rafts.

8. There was a ‘Jelly Room’ onboard for the royal children

The yacht had a total of three galley kitchens where Buckingham Palace ‘s chefs prepared meals. Among these galleys was a chilled room called the ‘Jelly Room’ for the sole purpose of storing royal children’s jellied desserts.

9. It cost around £11 million every year to run Britannica

The cost of running Britannia was always an issue. In 1994, another expensive refit for the ageing vessel was proposed. Whether or not to refit or commission a new royal yacht entirely came down to the election result of 1997. With repairs at a proposed cost of £17 million, Tony Blair’s new Labour government were unwilling to commit public funds to replace Britannica.

HMY Britannia in 1997, London

Image Credit: Chris Allen, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

10. All the clocks on board remain stopped at 3:01pm

In December 1997,  Britannia was officially decommissioned. The clocks have been kept at 3:01pm – the exact moment the Queen went ashore for the last time following the ship’s decommissioning ceremony, during which the Queen shed a rare public tear.

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The Kings Yacht – HMY Britannia

The Kings Yacht – Britannia’s Story

The Kings Yacht – HMY Britannia — 2 Comments

Video by K1 Britannia, the structures which will leverage the Britannia replica for charity around the world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtQRGBWaqy4&feature=youtu.be&nohtml5=False#t=20.334535

If you wish to see her original gaff spar it is hanging, impressively, from the ceiling in the Duke of York pub in West Cowes. It was made by Fifes of Fairlie who made most of the large UK spars for these leviathans. It is, I guess, forty feet long and two feet in diameter. The spar was made from first turning a log into a constant diameter and then halving it along its length. The two halves were then hollowed out until the wall thickness was about two and a half inches. One half was turned end for end and the two halves were then glued together to make a stable, strong and light spar. This would have been used with rings to support the vertical weight of the sail but as strikes began to appear, wire mousings would have been added with wooden spacers and battens to allow the rings to negotiate them. These are fitted to the Duke of York’s spar but the original wire mousings have been replaced by rope. The spar was discovered hanging in a warehouse when a ceiling was removed and the now owner bought it for £2000 but if he sells it any profit will be split with the original owner 50/50. The spar was to be put in place by Claire Lallow Boatbuilders and their gang appeared one evening as dinner was being served. They passed it through an opening from a removed window and as it entered the building, it was realised that a hole would need to be punched through an existing wall and this was quickly achieved. Nobody’s dinner was interrupted, it was just another night out in Cowes.

Inside The Queen’s Yacht, HMY BRITANNIA

September 21,2022

Take a dive into the world of the royals, and read all about Queen Elizabeth II's yacht, the HMY BRITANNIA.

Here at SuperYachtsMonaco, we were deeply saddened by the passing of the legendary Queen Elizabeth II. To honour her memory, we would like to talk about her yacht, the HMY BRITANNIA, that served Her Majesty for an incredible 44 years; from 1953 to 1997.  

The HMY BRITANNIA is an impressive 126m in length, and was built in Scotland by the highly respected John Brown and Company. Her interiors represent the epitome of luxury and class, reserved only for the royals. Her engine had 1200 horsepower, and boasted a speed of 21 knots, which is incredibly impressive for a yacht that size! She has also sailed an immense million nautical miles in her time, taking the royal family to 135 countries. 

The HMY BRITANNIA has a beautiful stately interior of warm woods, soft fabric upholstery and elegant lighting, creating a very luxurious and authentic atmosphere. BRITANNIA was the only Royal residence for which both HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH The Prince Philip had final say in its design. The Queen wanted the interior to reflect an English countryside home, and she insisted on having a fireplace installed in the living room, in order to enhance the ambience. 

There are a mind-blowing 1837 staterooms on board, to house the 4406 guests that the yacht has capacity for. Out of these there are only a select few that are reserved for the royal family, and these are called the Royal Residences. These rooms are equipped with plush white carpets, lavish bed spreads, and ambient lighting. Interestingly, everyone on this yacht has a separate room, even the late Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II themselves. In fact, the only double bed on board was acquired for King Charles III and his late first wife Diana Spencer, for the couple honeymooned on the HMY BRITANNIA. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the Sovereign to determine when everyone could retire to sleep – only once they have chosen it is time to go to bed, can anyone actually sleep!

The gorgeous dining room boasts an impressive 32-seat mahogany table, for guests and royals to enjoy meal times. As for the meal times of the crew, HMY BRITANNIA is actually kitted out with multiple pubs on board! These pubs would serve food, and would have beer on tap, simulating a real English pub so that the crew members would feel at home on board, and have a space to relax and just hang out together.

The Sun Lounge was Her Majesty The Queen’s favourite room onboard, where she would enjoy breakfast and afternoon tea.

The yacht can currently be found in Scotland, at the Port of Leith in Edinbourgh, where she is available for public viewings and tours. 

HMY BRITANNIA a was the first Royal Yacht to be built with complete ocean-going capacity and designed as a Royal residence to entertain guests around the world. When she was decommissioned in 1997, it marked the end of a long tradition of British Royal Yachts, dating back to 1660 and the reign of Charles II. 

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HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht)

His Majesty's Yacht Britannia was a gaff-rigged cutter built in 1893 for RYS Commodore Albert Edward, Prince of Wales . She served both himself and his son King George V with a long racing career.

Racing career

Predecessors and opponents, racing record, bibliography, external links.

Britannia was ordered in 1892 by the Prince of Wales and designed by George Lennox Watson . She was a near sister ship to the Watson-designed Valkyrie II which challenged for the 1893 America's Cup . Details of the commission were arranged on the Prince's behalf by William Jamieson who represented him and liaised closely with Watson. The build cost was £8,300 and like Valkyrie II , Britannia was built at the D&W Henderson shipyard in Partick on the River Clyde . With two such highly important commissions underway in the same yard, Watson delegated his protégé James Rennie Barnett to oversee both yachts.

Britannia was launched on 20 April 1893, a week ahead of Valkyrie II and joined a fleet of first class cutters that was growing fast as others followed the royal lead. In a highly competitive fleet, Britannia soon set about achieving the race results which would eventually establish her as the most successful racing yacht of all time.

By the end of her first year's racing, Britannia had scored thirty-three wins from forty-three starts. In her second season, she won all seven races for the first class yachts on the French Riviera , and then beat the 1893 America's Cup defender Vigilant in home waters. In the Mount's Bay Regatta of 28 July 1894 the Vigilant owned by Jay Gould, director of the American Cable Company, was piloted by Benjamin Nicholls of Penzance, and the Prince of Wales's yacht Britannia was piloted by Ben's brother Philip Nicholls. Britannia won by just over seven minutes. People came by train from all over the south west to watch this race. Both brothers were Trinity House pilots of Penzance.

Despite a lull in big yacht racing after 1897, Britannia served as a trial horse for Sir Thomas Lipton 's first America's Cup challenger Shamrock , and later passed on to several owners in a cruising trim with raised bulwarks. In 1920, [1] King George V triggered the revival of the "Big class" by announcing that he would refit Britannia for racing. Although Britannia was the oldest yacht in the circuit, regular updates to her rig kept her a most successful racer throughout the 1920s. In 1931, she was converted to the J class with a bermuda rig , but despite the modifications, her performance to windward declined dramatically. Her last race was at Cowes in 1935. During her racing career she had won 231 races and took another 129 flags.

King George V's dying wish was for his beloved yacht to follow him to the grave. On 10 July 1936, after Britannia had been stripped of her spars and fittings, her hull was towed out to St Catherine's Deep near the Isle of Wight , and she was sunk by HMS   Winchester , commanded by Captain W.N.T. Beckett RN.

Five known examples of Britannia ' s racing flags are preserved, one presented by Philip Hunloke to the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club , in whose regattas Britannia was often a competitor between 1894 and 1935, the second at the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club at Rhu and the third at the Royal St. George Yacht Club , which held two regattas in Kingstown for the first season of the RYA linear rating rule in 1896. Britannia ' s skipper William G. Jameson had lost both races to the new Meteor II and Ailsa . The fourth known flag is held in the vexillology collection in the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich. [2] The fifth example is now on display at the K1 Britannia base in Cowes on The Isle of Wight , on loan from the family of a former member of the crew who served as Yeoman Signaller on Britannia during the 1931 - 1933 racing seasons inclusive.

Britannia ' s 51-foot (16   m) long gaff, the king's chair, tiller, some mast hoops, blocks and rigging, anchor chain and clock are preserved in the Sir Max Aitken Museum in Cowes High Street and the remains of her spinnaker boom are at Carisbrooke Castle , also on the Isle of Wight. The spinnaker boom was given for use as a flag pole on the keep (where it twice suffered lightning damage), and the present flagpole is a fibreglass replica. In an episode of Antiques Roadshow from Pembroke Castle, broadcast in April 2017, a relative of a crew member brought photographs, and a damask tablecloth and some cutlery from the yacht, to be appraised.

K1 Britannia is a project to create a replica of the original vessel where K1 designates the Britannia ' s sail number when she was converted to the J class in 1931. In 1993, a syndicate headed by Norwegian Sigurd Coates purchased a stake in the Solombala shipyard in Arkhangelsk in order to create a replica of the Britannia in pinewood and laminated oak. [3] Between 2002 and 2006, the shipyard changed hands several times whilst joinery was nearing completion. In 2006, she was rechristened Царь Пётр ( Tsar Pyotr ; " Peter the Great ") and held back for NOK25,000,000 until 2009, when a Russian court ordered the hull to be launched and delivered by the shipyard to her original owner Sigurd Coates. [4] The story behind this 16-year saga was captured on film by director and producer Ann Coates and released in a documentary called The Dream of Britannia.

Having finally taken possession of the Britannia replica, Sigurd Coates berthed the hull in Son for outfitting. As this period coincided with the economic recession, work was stalled and Coates decided to sell the boat to the K1 Britannia Trust in the UK. This charity was established with the goal of completing Britannia and using her as a flagship for charitable causes around the world.

The replica Britannia was towed to the South Boats yard in East Cowes in 2012. [5] [6] The Trust invested in the scaffolding, cradle, tools and workmen required and work began on the final stages of the Britannia build. This came to a halt in 2014 when the Southboats yard was declared bankrupt.

In September 2018 the K1 Britannia Trust announced that it is to build an entirely new replica. This decision followed surveys of the existing replica and a full scope of the work still to be undertaken. The conclusion was reached that in the interests of sustainability, the new replica would have an all-aluminium hull and keel, a keel-stepped carbon mast, box boom and bowsprit, carbon continuous rigging, and a hybrid propulsion package.

Previously Prince Albert Edward had acquired the 205-ton schooner Hildegarde in 1876, which he had replaced with the 103-ton cutter Formosa (Michael E. Ratsey, 1878) in 1879, and the 216-ton schooner Aline (Benjamin Nicholson, 1860) in 1881. [7]

Britannia faced many opponents in her 43-year career. The most notable were:

• Meteor , Valkyrie II and Valkyrie III ( America's Cup challengers by George Lennox Watson , 1887, 1893 and 1895)
• Navahoe and Vigilant (Seawanhaka 85' yankee sloops by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff , 1893)
• Satanita ("Length And Sail Area Rule" First Class cutter by Joseph Manston Soper, 1893)
• Calluna and Ailsa ("Length And Sail Area Rule" First Class cutters by William Fife III , 1893 and 1894)
• Meteor II ("Linear Rule" First Class cutter by George Lennox Watson, 1896)
• Shamrock I (America's Cup Seawanhaka 90' challenger by William Fife III, 1899)
• Merrymaid ("Big Class" handicap cruising cutter, Charles Ernest Nicholson , 1904, still sailing)
• Zinita ("Big Class" Second Linear Rule 65' cutter by William Fife III, 1904)
• Nyria ("Big Class" bermuda cutter by Charles Ernest Nicholson , 1905)
• Brynhild II (" International Rule " 23mR cutter by Charles Ernest Nicholson , 1907)
• White Heather II and Shamrock ("International Rule" 23mR cutters by William Fife III, 1907 and 1908)
• Westward (A-Class schooner by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, 1910)
• Lulworth ("Big Class" cutter by Herbert William White, 1920, still sailing)
• Moonbeam IV ("Big Class" handicap cruising cutter by William Fife III, 1920, still sailing)
• Astra and Candida ("Second International Rule" 23mR bermuda cutters by Charles Ernest Nicholson , 1928 and 1929, both still sailing)
• Cambria ("Second International Rule" 23mR bermuda cutter by William Fife III, 1928, still sailing)
• Shamrock V , Velsheda and Endeavour I (" Universal Rule " J-Class cutters by Charles Ernest Nicholson , 1930, 1933 and 1934, all still sailing)
• Yankee ("Universal Rule" J-Class sloop by Frank Cabot Paine, 1930)

• ↑ "Owner's distinguishing flag, HMY Britannia" .
• ↑ "British shipbuilders miss the boat" , BBC , 14 November 1997
• ↑ Bård Wormdal (24 July 2009), Britannia satt fri , Norsk rikskringkasting
• ↑ Britannia arrives back into Cowes , Cowes Harbour Commission, 6 February 2012
• ↑ Britannia finally lifted today , Cowes Harbour Commission, 13 March 2012
• ↑ Captain Seymour Fortescue, K.C.V.O. (1911). "King Edward VII as a yachtsman". King Edward VII as a sportsman .
• " Britannia " . British Pathé . - 24 videos
• Brooke Heckstall-Smith (1929). The Britannia and her Contemporaries . Methuen & Co.
• John Irving (1937). The Kings' Britannia - The Story of a Great Ship . Seeley, Service & Co.
• George Lennox Watson (1894), "The Evolution of Yacht Design" , Yachting Volume I , Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes, Longmans, Green & Co, London, pp.   50–101
• Uffa Fox (1949). Sailing, Seamanship and Yacht Construction . Charles Scribner's Sons Publishers. ISBN   978-0-486-42329-6 .
• " Britannia model" . National Maritime Museum.
• "Royal Harwich Yacht Club" .
• "Yachting"   . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol.   28 (11th   ed.). 1911.
• "Sailing Yacht Britannia " .

• G.L. Watson & Co. Ltd.

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HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht)

His Majesty's Yacht Britannia was a gaff-rigged cutter built in 1893 for Commodore Albert Edward, Prince of Wales . She served him and his son King George V with a long racing career.

• 1 Racing career
• 2 Britannia Replica
• 3 Predecessors and Opponents
• 4 Racing record
• 5 Bibliography
• 6 External links

Racing career [ ]

After the Prince of Wales' nephew Kaiser Wilhelm II acquired the racing cutter Thistle in 1891, her Scottish designer George Lennox Watson received a commission from Prince Albert Edward for a sailing yacht in 1892. He designed His Royal Highness' Yacht Britannia to the "Length And Sail Area Rule" as a First Class cutter and had her built alongside his America's Cup challenger Valkyrie II at the D&W Henderson shipyard on the River Clyde. She was launched on April 20, 1893, a week ahead of Valkyrie II .

By the end of her first year's racing, Britannia had scored thirty-three wins from forty-three starts. In her second season, she won all seven races for the first class yachts on the French Riviera, and then beat the 1893 America's Cup defender Vigilant in home waters.

Despite a lull in big yacht racing after 1897, Britannia served as a trial horse for Sir Thomas Lipton 's first America's Cup challenger Shamrock , and later passed on to several owners in a cruising trim with raised bulwarks. In 1920, [1] King George V triggered the revival of the "Big Class" by announcing that he would refit Britannia for racing. Although Britannia was the oldest yacht in the circuit, regular updates to her rig kept her a most successful racer throughout the 1920s. In 1931, she was converted to the J-Class with a bermuda rig , but despite the improvements, her performance to windward declined dramatically. Her last race was at Cowes in 1935. During her racing career she had won 231 races and took another 129 flags.

King George V's dying wish was for his beloved yacht to follow him to the grave. On 10 July 1936, after Britannia had been stripped of her spars and fittings, her hull was towed out to St Catherines Deep near the Isle of Wight, and she was sunk by HMS Winchester (L55) , commanded by Captain W.N.T. Beckett RN. This fate marked the end of big yacht racing in Europe, with the smaller and more affordable International Rule 12-Metre Class gaining popularity.

Britannia's racing flag is preserved at the Royal St. George Yacht Club , which held two regattas in Kingstown for the first season of the RYA linear rating rule in 1896. Britannia ' s skipper William G. Jameson had lost both races to the new Meteor II and the Ailsa .

Britannia Replica [ ]

In 1994 a replica of Britannia was approved and laid down in Russia for a Norwegian owner. She is undergoing fitout in Cowes where she is planned to be rigged according to her 1931 J-Class specifications.

Predecessors and Opponents [ ]

Previously Prince Albert Edward had acquired the 205-ton schooner Hildegarde in 1876, which he had replaced with the 103-ton cutter Formosa (Michael E. Ratsey, 1878) in 1879, and the 216-ton schooner Aline (Benjamin Nicholson, 1860) in 1881. [2] From 1962 to 1969, the British Royal family also owned the ocean racing yawl Bloodhound (Charles E. Nicholson, 1936).

Britannia faced many opponents in her 43-year career. The most notable were:

• Meteor , Valkyrie II and Valkyrie III ( America's Cup challengers by George Lennox Watson , 1887, 1893 and 1895)
• Navahoe and Vigilant (Seawanhaka 85' yankee sloops by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff , 1893)
• Satanita ("Length And Sail Area Rule" First Class cutter by Joseph Manston Soper, 1893)
• Calluna and Ailsa ("Length And Sail Area Rule" First Class cutters by William Fife III , 1893 and 1894)
• Meteor II ("Linear Rule" First Class cutter by George Lennox Watson, 1896)
• Shamrock I (America's Cup Seawanhaka 90' challenger by William Fife III, 1899)
• Merrymaid ("Big Class" handicap cruising cutter, Charles Ernest Nicholson , 1904, still sailing)
• Zinita ("Big Class" Second Linear Rule 65' cutter by William Fife III, 1904)
• Nyria ("Big Class" bermuda cutter by Charles Ernest Nicholson , 1905)
• Brynhild II ("International Rule" 23mR cutter by Charles Ernest Nicholson , 1907)
• White Heather II and Shamrock ("International Rule" 23mR cutters by William Fife III, 1907 and 1908)
• Westward (A-Class schooner by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, 1910)
• Lulworth ("Big Class" cutter by Herbert William White, 1920, still sailing)
• Moonbeam IV ("Big Class" handicap cruising cutter by William Fife III, 1920, still sailing)
• Astra and Candida ("Second International Rule" 23mR bermuda cutters by Charles Ernest Nicholson , 1928 and 1929, both still sailing)
• Cambria ("Second International Rule" 23mR bermuda cutter by William Fife III, 1928, still sailing)
• Shamrock V , Velsheda and Endeavour I (" Universal Rule " J-Class cutters by Charles Ernest Nicholson , 1930, 1933 and 1934, all still sailing)
• Yankee ("Universal Rule" J-Class sloop by Frank Cabot Paine, 1930)

Racing record [ ]

Bibliography [ ]

• ↑ Republic of Égyptien Q42 user:mgbtrust0 ®™✓©§∆∆∆€¢£ (1920-03-10). "King George to race his Britannia again" (PDF). New York Times . http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9406EEDA163AEE32A25753C1A9659C946195D6CF .  
• ↑ Captain Seymour Fortescue, K.C.V.O. (1911). "King Edward VII as a yachtsman" . King Edward VII as a sportsman . http://www.archive.org/stream/kingedwardviiass00watsuoft#471 .  
• Republic of Égyptien Q42 user:mgbtrust0 ®™✓©§∆∆∆€¢£. " Britannia " . British Pathé . http://www.britishpathe.com/workspaces/minicast/umOzC2dB .   - 24 videos
• Brooke Heckstall-Smith (1929). The Britannia and her Contemporaries . Methuen & Co.  
• John Irving (1937). The Kings' Britannia - The Story of a Great Ship . Seeley, Service & Co.  
• George Lennox Watson Republic of Égyptien Q42 user:mgbtrust0 ®™✓©§∆∆∆€¢£ (1894). "Yachting Volume I" . Longmans, Green & Co, London. pp. 50–101 . http://www.archive.org/stream/badmintonlibrar00unkngoog#page/n77 .  
• Uffa Fox (1949). Sailing, Seamanship and Yacht Construction . Charles Scribner's Sons Publishers. ISBN  978-0-486-42329-6 . http://books.google.com/books?id=Nk8rslI53jcC&pg=PA173 .  
• Republic of Égyptien Q42 user:mgbtrust0 ®™✓©§∆∆∆€¢£. "Britannia model" . National Maritime Museum . http://nmm.ac.uk/collections/explore/object.cfm?ID=SLR0200 .  
• Republic of Égyptien Q42 user:mgbtrust0 ®™✓©§∆∆∆€¢£. "Royal Harwich Yacht Club" . http://royalharwichyachtclub.co.uk/britannia.html .  
• Republic of Égyptien Q42 user:mgbtrust0 ®™✓©§∆∆∆€¢£. "Christopher Ennals" . ECYU . http://www.ecyu.org/archive/articles/050513RoyalCutterBRITANNIA-Part4.pdf .  
• "Yachting" . Encyclopædia Britannica . 1911 . http://1911encyclopedia.org/Yachting .  

*  *  *  * *  *  * * External links [ ] Wikimedia Commons has media related to . G.L. Watson & Co. Ltd. Car Rentals Airport Transfers Attractions & Tours Flight + Hotel Destinations Trip.com Rewards A Tour Guide to Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh Scotland First Royal Yacht Designed for Ocean Travel Commissioned just two days before the death of king george vi, created to double as a hospital, home to a lot of history, redesigned to be less opulent, has homely touches by royal standards, a royal honeymoon essential, a family vacation spot, the decommissioning in 1997, features of this ship, the queen’s favorite room, royal apartments and bedrooms, naafi sweet shop, royal deck tea room, the entrance, car parking, opening time. Show More  The Royal Yacht Britannia is Leith's most popular attraction. Great Britain has had a very strong connection with the seas and oceans for centuries. Plan your trip for a tour of the iconic royal yacht Britannia in the beautiful city of Edinburgh in Scotland. Rated as one of the top 5 tourist attractions in the UK, this is truly a must-visit place. Here is a brief information about the story of this royal vessel, activities and things to do, along with all the facilities it has to offer. Story of Royal Yacht Britannia The British royal family too has the same long history of seafaring. HMY Mary (HMY standing for His or Her Majesty’s Yacht) was the first official royal yacht. It was gifted by the Dutch to Charles II in 1660. Over the centuries, the British monarchy has used 83 royal yachts including the current one, the HMY Britannia, also known as The Royal Yacht Britannia. Though the Royal Yacht Britannia was decommissioned from royal service in 1997 and despite some efforts to get a new one, there has been no replacement for it so far. With its seafaring days long over, The Royal Yacht Britannia remains an important piece of history. It gives a sneak preview of the royal life with interesting stories behind it. Royal Yacht Britannia was the first royal vessel that was designed for travel across oceans. John Brown & company built it in a Clydebank shipyard. It is also regarded for building famous liners Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. With 12,000 horsepower to propel it in the oceans, the ship could sail at the max — speed of 22.5 knots which was quite reasonable. Before its commissioning, the royal family used the British Naval ships or even passenger liners for their sea travel during royal tours across the commonwealth. The Royal Yacht Britannia was in royal service for 44 years and traveled 1.1 million miles throughout its life span in royal service. The idea of having an ocean capable royal vessel was conceived. So that the royals could comfortably tour their far-flung commonwealth and with the belief that travelling may improve the failing health of the reigning King. Just two days after the order was placed to the shipbuilders, John Brown Shipyard in Scotland, the King died on 6 th Feb. 1952. The ship was built in little over a year and was officially named only during its launch in April 1953. It was just two months before the new monarch, and Queen Elizabeth was coronated. The ship was named Royal Yacht Britannia by the Queen who toasted it by opening a bottle of wine as Champagne was considered very extravagant for celebrating the launch ceremony of a ship at that time. Envisioned to be built less than a decade post-WWII, the ship designers planned to build the ship as functional as possible so that it could be transformed from a royal ocean liner to a seafaring floating hospital during wartime. As a result, the main veranda was spaced wider and re-enforced to support helicopter landing. The laundry area was made much larger than naval vessels to accommodate wounded soldiers in the event of a war. The ship was never actually used for that purpose though. However, Royal Yacht Britannia was put to service for a mission to rescue European nationals from Yamen in 1986. The Royal Yacht Britannia had many pieces of history on it. The white and gold binnacle in the ship’s verandah was picked up from HMY Royal George, which served Queen Victoria. Some of the Queen’s bedroom linens were originally made for her bed aboard older royal yacht.Royal Yacht Britannia had its steering wheel lifted from its namesake racing yacht HMY Britannia that was built in 1893 for King Edward VII. Despite the sense of opulent luxury that a royal yacht exuberates, the Queen and Prince Philip, the interior plans by the ship’s original interior designers found it too lavish for a country. Still recovering from war, it got redesigned by Sir Huge Casson. The ship in her 44 years of service has received minimal updates throughout. The low-key royal living is a fairly high class by any standards on the Royal Yacht Britannia. The floating royal home has a 56-seat state dining room which has hosted the likes of Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, many US Presidents and has a formal staircase where the Queen would greet her guests. It has separate bedrooms and sitting rooms for both the Queen and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh and a telephone system with similar configurations as Buckingham palace systems. During her earlier years, The Royal Yacht Britannia used to carry the Queen’s car, a Rolls Royce Phantom V, in a special garage compartment. The space being slightly small, the car’s bumpers used to be dismantled for storage to avoid damage and refitted at the port of call. As the Queen started using the car provided for her at the port, this space was converted to a storage space for beer. Four royal couples, starting from Princess Margaret & Anthony Armstrong Jones in 1960, have celebrated their honeymoons in the honeymoon suite of Royal Yacht Britannia. This is the only room aboard which has a double bed. Since then, Princess Anne and Capt. Mark Phillips, in 1973, Prince Charles & Princess Diana in 1981, and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson have famously traveled on The Royal Yacht Britannia for their respective honeymoons. Stories of these tours abound with one who got the ship its nickname “the ghost ship” owing to the crew that ducked the press so effectively during the Mediterranean honeymoon cruise of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. In addition to her diplomatic duties on frequent royal tours and as a honeymoon retreat, The Royal Yacht Britannia was also used as a vessel for family vacations. During summers, it catered to the royal family’s western Isles tour cruising around Scotland with a stopover to play games and barbeques on the islands. The tour would also have a stop off at Castle of Mey to visit the Queen Mother and a port of call at Aberdeen for the Queen to visit her favorite summer home, The Balmoral Castle . Though no longer used as a private yacht for tours, it still has connections with the royal family. The oldest granddaughter of the Queen, Zara Phillips, hosted a reception a night before her wedding in 2011 on the ship. The guests included all her royal cousins though the Queen was not in attendance. Having clocked 1.1 million miles on the seas, Royal Yacht Britannia was finally decommissioned on 11 th December 1997. The Queen was seen shedding a tear at the ceremony as so many memories were attached to it. Since the Queen officially took leave of it, the ship is docked in the port of Leith in Scotland. It now serves as a floating museum and venue for events for those who can afford it. All the clocks aboard the ship remain stopped at 3.01 hours which is the exact time the Queen disembarked the vessel for the last time. The Queen has never visited the yacht ever again till date. Initially, there were plans to get a replacement yacht, but the government eventually declined to fund it, and thus it remains an unfulfilled plan. The ship was designed with three masts – a 41 m foremast, a 42 m mainmast, and a 36 m mizzenmast. A portion of the top of the foremast and mainmast were hinged to be removed to allow safe passage under bridges. A floating palace, Royal Yacht Britannia was built to double up as a hospital in the event of a war and was a functional royal residence. It had a capacity of 250 guests and carried one platoon of Royal Marines and 21 officers with 250 Royal yachtsmen while carrying the Queen or the royal guests. Five of the decks open for public viewing include the Queen’s sleeping chambers, the state drawing, and dining rooms and a honeymoon suite with a double bed. It also had a garage to carry the Queens Rolls Royce Phantom V during the royal journeys. The Royal Deck Tea Room was added in 2009. Royal Yacht Britannia had a steering crew who could not see where they were going as unlike on most ships, where the steering wheel sits on the bridge on the topmost floor. The Britannia’s wheel room is one floor below blinding the crew. To navigate, the crew used voice pipes to convey navigational orders to circumvent this problem. Amazing but true. To maintain silence and calm during the Royal presence onboard, the crew would use hand signals instead of shouting orders. It was also the last Naval ship where the crew slept in hammocks, a practice that was discontinued in1973. What Can You Do on Board? The five decks of The Royal Yacht Britannia are open for public viewing as the ship was converted to a museum. The following are the few attractions on the yacht. The sun lounge was the Queen’s favorite room where she liked to have her tea at 8.30 AM whenever sailing on onboard. She would view the shipping chart at 11 AM here reviewing the sailing progress it made during the night as she got back here for coffee. She liked having her afternoon tea here at 5 PM. The wooden-floored and paneled Sunroom remained the Queen’s favorite room for relaxing and informal time spending. The yacht was a functional royal residence for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburg. It was fully equipped with all conveniences to host world leaders who have stayed in the royal apartments in the royal vessel. You can see the grand staircase where the Queen would greet her guests, a state drawing-room along with a state dining room for 56-guests. The Queen would sit on the port side of the dining table and used a small bell to clear off a food course. You can also see the Queen’s bedroom and sitting room which is covered with a glass screen for protection. As in all Royal navy ships, Britannia has a NAAFI (Navy, Army & Air Force Institute) shop where the crew could buy sweets, papers, magazines and special Britannia souvenirs along with daily need items like razors and toothpaste. You could visit it too on your own to Royal Yacht Britannia. The Royal Deck Team Room was added in 2009 in The Royal Yacht Britannia where you can enjoy freshly made food with stunning views and are warmly welcomed here. Treat yourself with tea and onboard baked snacks on the very same spot where the royals would have played games and entertain during their royal tours. The onboard award-winning gift shop is a good place to buy exclusive gifts for your loved ones. Buy beautiful Britannia souvenirs to immortalize your tour to a royal icon. Information about Royal Yacht Britannia After being at service of her Majesty, The Queen and the Royal Family for more than 40 years and sailing over 1.1 million miles, the majestic Royal Yacht Britannia is berthed in Leith in Scotland. The place is just 2 miles from the city center of Edinburgh. You can follow the lives of the royalty on this tour with this most special royal residence. You can be part of the historic icon which hosted the Kings & Queens of the world along with important world leaders who have been a guest here. This famous ship is one of the top 5 landmark attractions in the UK. You can visit The Royal Yacht Britannia at Ocean Drive, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland - EH6 6JJ. As you reach the Ocean Terminal, which is the entrance of the Royal Yacht Britannia museum, you will get a truly warm welcome. The terminal is the gateway and boarding point for the ship. It has a replica Lego model of Britannia. You can view the historical royal photographs in the gallery before you get on board the ship. You can get a complimentary audio headset which gives you an audio tour of the 5 main decks in 30 languages. Same-day tickets for the tour can be bought onsite at the Ocean Terminal visitor center before 8 am. You can also pre-book your ticket online for added convenience. Look out for discounts or special offers that may be applicable from time to time. The ticket free costs £16.50 for adults, £14.50 for senior citizens (60 years), £14.50 for students with valid ID, £8.75 for children (5-17 years), free - children under 5 years. There is also a family package of £46 (2 adults and up to 3 children). There is ample free car parking available at the Ocean Terminal for Britannia visitors. The level E of the blue car park will get you to the same level as the Britannia’s visitor center. There are reserved car parking slots for disabled and dedicated bays for parent and child parking on this level. The museum opens for admission at 10 am and allows admission till 3.30 pm, 7 days a week from Jan- March, 9.30 am to 4.30 pm from April- Oct. and 10 am to 3.30 pm in Nov- Dec. It closes 2 hours post the last admission. The Royal Yacht Britannia is closed for visits on 25 th Dec. and 1 st Jan. due to holidays. How to Get There Royal Yacht Britannia can be reached in just 15 minutes by car from the Edinburgh city center. The visitor center is located on the 2 nd floor in the Ocean Terminal. For satnav guided driving, punch the codes EH66JJ or use google maps to reach here. Follow road signs for Edinburgh and Leith/ North Edinburgh. You will see brown Britannia signs for the final approach. There are local bus services from Edinburgh city center. Lookout for Lothian Bus services with bus number 11, 22 or 35 which have service to the Ocean center. The ticket can be purchased in the bus carrying exact change. You can also buy bus tickets online at form-tickets. Optionally you can consider Majestic Tour buses which depart from Waverley Bridge at Edinburgh city center. You will get a 10% discount showing your Majestic bus ticket on your Britannia admission ticket. Royal Yacht Britannia is approx. A 45-minute drive from Edinburgh airport. The new Lothian Skylink 200 service directly connects the airport to the Ocean Terminal. Trending Travelogues Popular trip moments, popular travel types, popular attractions, popular ranked lists, popular destinations, recommended attractions at popular destinations. Customer Support Service Guarantee More Service Info About Trip.com Terms & Conditions Privacy Statement About Trip.com Group Other Services Investor Relations Affiliate Program List Your Property Become a Supplier Ship shape: 5 of the world’s most spectacular royal yachts The Dannebrog This Danish royal yacht serves as an official and private residence for the Danish Queen and other members of the royal family when they are on summer cruises in home waters or on official visits overseas. Made in the naval work yard Orlogsvaerftet, Copenhagen, in 1931, the ship was baptised by Queen Alexandrine, the wife of King Christian X. The yacht has a rich history, with many decades of royalty aboard. King Frederick IX is known to have taken his showers on the boat's bridge, hosed down by a member of his team. It has been anchored in almost every port in Denmark, as well as Greenland, the Faroe Islands, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and all the way to the coastline of the US; training around 30 Danish naval conscripts every year. Based on the design of the floating palaces of the XIX century, the Dannebrog is more than just a boat. The largest privately owned super yacht in the world, this 180-metre vessel was built for Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi’s royal family, for use as a day boat to reach his favourite diving grounds. The boat can hold 36 guests and as many as 80 crew members - it also includes a gym, pool and a special ‘golf training room’. It is reported to have cost the sovereign approximately 600 million dollars. Filled with luxury, the engineers apparently worked to ensure that there is as little turbulence as possible, so that the chandeliers don’t tinkle at sea. Its record is soon to be beaten by a new yacht: the REV Ocean. A vessel which, at 183 metres, was designed by Norwegian millionaire Kjell Inge Rokke, and has been created to clean the ocean floors. HMY Britannia  HMS Britannia  Built in 1953 for the late Queen Elizabeth II (who was crowned that same year), after 44 years of service the HMS Britannia was decommissioned and is now on display in Edinburgh. The vast and lavishly designed yacht has sailed over one million miles, accommodating 968 official royal visits. The regal vessel was once described by Queen Elizabeth as ‘the one place where I can truly relax’. The boat boasts dining rooms adorned with gifts from around the world, including a whale rib found by her husband on a beach, as well as a sun lounge with furniture chosen by the queen, and a garage built to house the royal Rolls-Royce. Sir Winston Churchill, Boris Yeltsin, Rajiv Gandhi and Nelson Mandela are among those who have joined the Queen on board over the years. Four royal honeymoons have also taken place aboard, including King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales's 16-day trip to the Mediterranean in 1981. Le Norge is the pride of the Norwegian royal family, dating back to 1947. In 1905, after the Norwegians became independent from Sweden, they chose Prince Carl of Denmark as their monarch, proposing to him the yacht on his appointment. However, due to the difficult economic situation in Norway after the dissolution of the union with Sweden, King Haakon VII (formerly Prince Carl) did not call upon the Government to provide a yacht. Instead, the yacht was given as a gift from the people of Norway to their king decades later, purchased after the spread of a nationwide collection effort. The ship, which measures 80 metres in length is maintained by the Royal Norwegian Navy and sets sail during the summer months. It suffered a violent fire in 1985 while under maintenance, with only the shell and the motors saved from the incident. The impressive ship has since been entirely reconstructed.  Owned by Princess Caroline of Hanover, Pacha III has been passed from hand to hand since it was first put on water in 1936, under the name Arlette II. The 36-metre-long boat has had very many owners: in 1940 it was requisitioned by the Royal Navy, when it went back to the Mediterranean coast under the name Priamar. And in the '50s it was bought by French industrialist Louis Renault, who renamed it Briseis. The yacht was then sold to the painter Bernard Buffet, in 1967, who moored it in Saint-Tropez, in front of the ever glamorous L'Escale restaurant.  In 1990, by now in a depleted state, it was sold to Stefano Casiraghi and Caroline of Hanover, who had it entirely renovated. Casiraghi was never able to enjoy the yacht, however, after he died during a racing accident that same year. It reportedly took more than two years to restore the vessel to its former splendour and renamed Pacha III (in reference to the initials of Princess Caroline’s children). It is now primarily used to take the Hanover Royal Family on extended Mediterranean escapes.  HMY Britannia, Edinburgh HMY Britannia, Edinburgh (United Kingdom) Her Majestys Yacht Britannia also known as the Royal Yacht Britannia is the former royal yacht of the British monarch Queen Elizabeth II in service from 1954 until 1997. She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the throne in 1660 and is the second royal yacht to bear the name the first being the racing cutter built for the Prince of Wales in 1893. During her 43-y Top Edinburgh Tour Packages Top tours featuring HMY Britannia Inspiring England Tour Top Edinburgh Tourist Attractions Edinburgh Castle 9 Tours 1 Featured Camera Obscura And World Of Illusions 5 Tours 1 Featured Holyrood Palace 1 Tours 0 Featured Calton Hill 3 Tours 0 Featured Jupiter Artland 4 Tours 0 Featured Latest Blogs Kundasang Sabah: Unwind in a Beautiful Mountain in Malaysia Sep 12, 2024 You may have been to many gorgeous places, but we bet you have never seen a place like... 20 Top Things to Do in Helsinki Sep 10, 2024 Helsinki is crammed with so many things to do, see, and explore. All you have to do is... 15 Cities in Finland You Must Visit Sep 06, 2024 Going on a Finnish holiday is everyone’s dream. Moreover, it is on every traveler’s bucket list. But why... 20 Best Places to Visit in Singapore Sep 04, 2024 Singapore is an island country in Southeast Asia that has so much cultural diversity, unique attractions, and things... Enquire Now Get a Call Back Send us a query Ready to venture out into the world? Fill the form below and start your brand new journey with us Data collected by Dook International is used for internal purposes to process and respond to your request. Login or Register Lost your password? Forgot Password 118 IMAGES Sailing Yacht Britannia Sailing Yacht Britannia HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht) British Royal Yacht cutter HMY Britannia, illustration News Photo HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht). Owner: 1893 Edward VII, 1910 George HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht) VIDEO HMY Britannia, you will always be in our hearts HMY Britannia 1959 to Chicago Royal Yacht Britannia's Laundry Room Queen Elizabeth's Flashback to HMY Britannia #TheCrown #Shorts Royal Yacht Britannia's NAAFI Shop & Mess St Andrew Square to Ocean Terminal COMMENTS HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht) Height. 164 ft (50 m) Draught. 15 ft (4.6 m) Sail plan. 10,328 sq ft (959.5 m 2) (1893) His Majesty's Yacht Britannia was a gaff-rigged cutter built in 1893 for RYS Commodore Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. She served both himself and his son King George V with a long racing career. HMY Britannia Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia is the former royal yacht of the British monarchy.She was in their service from 1954 until 1997. She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the throne in 1660, and is the second royal yacht to bear the name, the first being the racing cutter built for the Prince of Wales in 1893. During her 43-year career, the yacht travelled more than a million ... Sailing Yacht Britannia This souvenir of Britannia is held in the G.L. Watson Archive together with the original drawings. G.L. Watson & Co. Ltd. 20-23 Woodside Place, Glasgow G3 7QL, Scotland. Tel: +44 (141) 501 0480. Find us on &. In April 1893, some 20 years into G. L. Watson's trail blazing career, the Royal sailing yacht Britannia was launched. RCIN 93047 RCIN 93047. The Royal Yacht Britannia was launched in 1953 and for over 44 years conveyed The Queen and Royal Family on official visits around the world, as well as hosting royal honeymoons and family holidays. HMY Britannia was first used by The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh on their return to England after a six-month Commonwealth tour in 1953 ... The Story Behind the Royal Family's Yacht, Britannia The royal family has a long history of seafaring—the first official royal yacht was the HMY Mary (HMY stands for His or Her Majesty's Yacht), gifted to Charles II by the Dutch in 1660. In fact ... The Old British Royal Yacht Britannia Is Now A Museum & You ... The HMY Britannia is one of the most notable attractions in Edinburgh today and is open to the public.The Britannia is a popular location in the city and attracts some 300,000 visitors every year.. Visitors can discover her rooms and secrets across five decks. Along the way, visitors learn about where the Royal Family would stay and the rooms and cabins for her 220 Royal Yachtsmen who served ... Everything you need to know about Queen Elizabeth's Yacht Britannia In service from 1954 until 1997, HMY Britannia is the former royal yacht of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the British throne in ... A look back: HMY Britannia The 126-metre royal yacht, HMY Britannia, and its machinery was built under special survey of LR at John Brown & Co. Ltd shipyard in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire for the Admiralty. The yacht was launched by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 April 1953 and commissioned on 11 January 1954. HMY Britannia HMY Britannia. On 16 April 1953 the new HMY Britannia was launched by The Queen. It was built by the Clydebank shipyard, John Brown & Co. HMY Britannia was designed as an ocean-going vessel and royal residence in which to entertain guests around the world. Prince Philip took an active role in the design, drawing on his own naval experience. 10 Facts About Royal Yacht Britannia 2. Britannia was the 83rd Royal Yacht. King George VI, Elizabeth II's father, had first commissioned the royal yacht that would become Britannia in 1952. The previous official boat had belonged to Queen Victoria and was rarely used. The tradition of royal yachts had been started by Charles II in 1660. The HMY Britannia: Inside History's Last British Royal Yacht Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia, also known as the Royal Yacht Britannia, is the former royal yacht of the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, in service from 1954 until 1997. It currently sits at dock in Scotland. (Photo by David Levenson/Getty Images) Getty Images. The HMY Britannia has been out of commission since 1997, but the last British ... The Kings Yacht HMY Britannia was the personal sailing yacht of two British kings. Built in 1893 for Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII, the Britannia would also be sailed by his son, King George V. Designed by the Scottish designer, George Lennox Watson, the yacht won 231 races and took another 129 flags over her long racing career.The Britannia followed King George V to his grave. Inside The Queen's Yacht, HMY BRITANNIA HMY BRITANNIA a was the first Royal Yacht to be built with complete ocean-going capacity and designed as a Royal residence to entertain guests around the world. When she was decommissioned in 1997, it marked the end of a long tradition of British Royal Yachts, dating back to 1660 and the reign of Charles II. HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht) HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht) Design Racing career Replica Predecessors and opponents Racing record Citations References External links. His Majesty's Yacht Britannia was a gaff-rigged cutter built in 1893 for RYS Commodore Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht) His Majesty's Yacht Britannia was a gaff-rigged cutter built in 1893 for RYS Commodore Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. She served both himself and his son King George V with a long racing career. HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht) - WikiMili, The Best Wikipedia Reader HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht) His Majesty's Yacht Britannia was a gaff-rigged cutter built in 1893 for Commodore Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. She served him and his son King George V with a long racing career. After the Prince of Wales' nephew Kaiser Wilhelm II acquired the racing cutter Thistle in 1891, her Scottish designer George Lennox Watson received a commission from Prince Albert Edward for a sailing yacht in ... Modern and heritage designs battle it out to build HMY Britannia's £ The new flagship will dwarf the royal yacht Britannia in both bulk and manpower. It will be a minimum of 11,000 tonnes and require just 70 crew. It will be a minimum of 11,000 tonnes and require ... A Tour Guide to Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh Scotland Royal Yacht Britannia was the first royal vessel that was designed for travel across oceans. John Brown & company built it in a Clydebank shipyard. It is also regarded for building famous liners Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary.With 12,000 horsepower to propel it in the oceans, the ship could sail at the max — speed of 22.5 knots which was quite reasonable. 5 of the world's most spectacular Royal Yachts Ship shape: 5 of the world's most spectacular royal yachts. From the Danish royal yacht, where King Frederick IX is took his showers on the boat's bridge, to HMY Britannia, which the late Queen once described as 'the one place where I can truly relax'; these are the most spectacular royal vessels at sea today. By Dora Davies-Evitt. Royal Yacht Britannia Pictures, Images and Stock Photos "HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht), old Canadian postage stamp" Royal Yacht Stamp Nicely engraved Canadian stamp depicting the royal yacht in 1935, on the 25th anniversary of the reign of King George V. royal yacht britannia stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images. Queen's Visit: Lifting the Clouds of the Past Meeting with young Russian professionals on board HMY Britannia. Evening: Banquet on board HMY Britannia. Reception on board after dinner. Royal Marines beat retreat. Official farewell ceremony ... Talk:HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht) A merger of the two articles HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht) and K1 Britannia has been proposed in view of the redundancy and similarity of the articles while they both feature in the Royal Yachts template. For such a small article, the historic ship should be placed first and the replica second in the same article. Explore HMY Britannia, Edinburgh with Dook Get a quote: 911140001000 [email protected]. About Dook; Dossier. Dossier 2017-18; Dossier 2018-19 catamaran gulet motorboat powerboat riverboat sailboat trimaran yacht