List of royal yachts of the United Kingdom

There have been 83 royal yachts of the monarchy of the United Kingdom since the restoration of the monarchy in 1660.^[1]

Charles II had 25 royal yachts,^[2] while five were simultaneously in service in 1831.^[3]

Merchantmen or warships have occasionally been chartered or assigned for special duty as a temporary royal yacht, for example the steamship Ophir in 1901 and the battleship HMS Vanguard in 1947.^{[citation needed]}

Since 1998, following a successful national tender process, Britannia has been berthed permanently at the Port of Leith in Edinburgh.^[1] There are currently no British royal yachts, although MV Hebridean Princess and MY Leander G have both been used by the royal family.^[4][5]

Kingdom of England

Data about launch years from Royal Yachts of the World (1997) by Tim Madge^[6]

• Mary (1660–1675)
• Royal Escape (dates unknown)
• Anne (1661–unknown)
• Bezan (1661–unknown)
• Katherine (first ship of that name) (1661–unknown): built by Phineas Pett
• Minion (dates unknown)
• Charles (first ship of that name) (1662–unknown)
• Jamie or Jemmy (1662–unknown)
• Henrietta (first ship of that name) (1663–unknown)
• Merlin* (1666–unknown)
• Monmouth (1666–unknown)
• Navy (1666–unknown)
• Saudadoes (1670–unknown)
• Cleveland (1671–unknown)
• Queenborough (first ship of that name) (1671–unknown)
• Deale (1673–unknown)
• Isle of Wight (1673–unknown)
• Kitchen (1670–unknown)
• Katherine (second ship of that name) (1674–unknown)
• Portsmouth (first ship of that name) (1674–unknown)
• Charles (second ship of that name) (1675–unknown)
• Charlot (1677–unknown)
• Mary (second ship of that name) (1677–unknown)
• Henrietta (second ship of that name) (1679–unknown)
• Izabella Bezan (1680–unknown)
• Fubbs (1682–unknown)
• Isabella (first ship of that name) (1680–unknown)
• William & Mary (first ship of that name) (1694–unknown)
• Squirrel (1694–unknown)
• Scout (1695–unknown)
• Queenborough (second ship of that name) (1701–unknown)
• Soesdyke (1702–unknown)
• Portsmouth (second ship of that name) (1702–unknown)
• Isabella (1703–unknown)
• Drake (1705–unknown)

Kingdom of Great Britain

• Dublin (1709–unknown)
• Bolton (1709–unknown)
• Charlot (1710–unknown)
• Carolina (1710–unknown)
• Chatham (1710–unknown)
• Chatham (1741–unknown)
• Portsmouth (1742–unknown)
• Royal Caroline (renamed Royal Charlotte in 1761) (1749–1820)
• Dorset (1753–unknown)
• Plymouth (1755–unknown)
• Augusta (1771–unknown)
• Portsmouth (1794–unknown)
• Plymouth (1796–unknown)

United Kingdom

• Royal Sovereign (1804–1849)
• William & Mary (1807–unknown)
• Royal George (1817–1842)
• Prince Regent (1820–unknown)
• Royal Charlotte (1824–1832)
• Royal Adelaide (1834–1878)
• Victoria and Albert (1843–1855): remained in service as Osborne (1855–1867)
• Fairy (1845–1863) (tender to Victoria and Albert)
• Elfin (1848–1901)
• Victoria and Albert (ii) (1855–1900)
• Alberta (1863–1913) (tender to Victoria and Albert (ii))
• Osborne (1870–1908) (tender to Victoria and Albert (ii))
• Victoria and Albert (iii) (1901–1937)
• SS Ophir* (1901): chartered steamship for the royal tour of the colonies
• Alexandra (1908–1925)
• RMS Medina (1911–1912): chartered P&O steamship for the royal visit to India
• Britannia (royal cutter yacht) (1893–1936)
• RMS Empress of Britain (1931–1940)
• RMS Empress of Australia (1939)^{[7][dead link]}
• HMS Renown (1916): used in 1920 for the Prince of Wales Empire tour and in 1927 by the Duke and Duchess of York to visit Australia
• HMS Vanguard (1947): battleship used to take George VI and family to South Africa
• Gothic (1952–1954)
• Britannia (1954–1997)

Potential new yacht

In 2021 the UK government announced plans for a new 'ship of state' to be managed jointly between the Ministry of Defence, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Department for International Trade. The plan for the ship is to "host trade fairs, ministerial summits and diplomatic talks", fulfilling functions in a similar capacity to previous Royal Yachts. The ship would be crewed by the Royal Navy. The cost was placed at between £200m and £250m. Some reports suggested the yacht would be named after the late Duke of Edinburgh. By late 2022 some reports suggested that the UK government might not proceed with the new yacht.^{[8][9][10][11]}

See also

• Royal Yacht Squadron
• Royal barge of the United Kingdom
• Royal Mews
• State and royal cars of the United Kingdom
• Air transport of the Royal Family and government of the United Kingdom
• British Royal Train
• List of imperial and royal yachts by country

References

1. "The Royal Residence". The Royal Yacht Britannia Edinburgh. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
2. "All at sea with Charles II". University of Southampton. 27 April 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
3. Madge 1997, p. 183.
4. Witchell, Nicholas (23 July 2010). "Queen heads off on Hebridean adventure". BBC News.
5. Wilson, Sophia (1 June 2022). "Leander G: On board the classic yacht favoured by British royalty". Boat International. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
6. Madge 1997, pp. 182–183.
7. "40-year-old Ship Makes Last Trip; Empress of Australia, Luxury Liner and Troop Carrier, on Way to Scrap Heap". The New York Times. 1 May 1952.
8. Heffer, Greg (29 July 2021). "Boris Johnson told to scrap 'vanity' project after admission new national yacht could cost £250m". Sky News. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
9. "Boris Johnson plans to sink £200m into new ship of state". The Guardian. Press Association. 30 May 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
10. Forrest, Adam (28 July 2021). "Boris Johnson says £250m royal yacht will let UK 'show itself off'". The Independent. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
11. Nelson, Nigel (22 October 2022). "Chancellor Jeremy Hunt plans to scrap Boris Johnson's 'vanity' £250m yacht". The Mirror. Retrieved 29 October 2022.

Sources

• Madge, Tim (1997). Royal Yachts of the World. Thomas Reed Publications. pp. 182–183. ISBN 0-901281-74-3.

Further reading

• Fenwick, Valerie; Gale, Alison (1998). Historic Shipwrecks, Discovered, Protected and Investigated. Tempus Publishing Limited. pp. 112–113. ISBN 0-7524-1473-9.
• Lavery, Brain (2022). Royal Yachts Under Sail. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Books Limited. ISBN 978-13990-9-294-4.

External links

• New York Times archive The end of the Royal Tour of 1901
• New York Times archive Ordering the new yacht in 1897
• Hampshire and Dorset shipwrecks Collision of HMY Albee with the Mistletoe
• New York Times archive Review of the Fleet 1897
• The Royal Yacht Britannia, Leith, Edinburgh. Visitor attraction and evening events venue.
• The list of Navy vessels for December 1695 (House of Commons Journal)
• The £1.4-million yacht Hebridian Princess This yacht was chartered by the Queen for her 80th Birthday. Formerly the MacBrayne ferry Columba built in 1964; converted to a miniature cruise ship for just 49 passengers in 1989.
• Chartered by Prince of Wales for visit to Caribbean in March 2008. Chartered yacht instead of jet was to demonstrate his concern for the environment.