SS ''Gothic'' was a

passenger-cargo liner A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...

launched in December 1947, though not completed until a year later. She became the most famous of the quartet when she was designated a

royal yacht A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head. The royal yacht is most often c ...

from 1952 to 1954.

Construction and commercial service

''Gothic'' was built by

Swan Hunter Swan Hunter, formerly known as Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, is a shipbuilding design, engineering, and management company, based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. At its apex, the company represented the combined forces of three powe ...

Wallsend-on-Tyne Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This f ...

(yard 1759), the fourth and final of the ''Corinthic''-class liners ordered by the

Shaw, Savill & Albion Line Shaw, Savill & Albion Line was the trading name of Shaw, Savill and Albion Steamship Company, a British shipping company that operated ships between Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand. History The company was created in 1882 by the ama ...

in 1946. Her sister ships were , and . She was launched on 12 December 1947, completed in December 1948, and departed on her maiden voyage on 23 December 1948, sailing from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. The quartet joined the much larger on the UK to New Zealand service. Each ship was around and accommodated 85 first class passengers. Each had 6 large holds, with space for of cargo, of which was for refrigerated goods. In 1969 she was sold to China Steel Corp and arrived at

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...

for demolition on 13 August that year.

Royal yacht

In 1952, ''Gothic'' was sent to

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

shipyards to be refitted to become the

for a tour of Australia and New Zealand. Although the tour was cancelled due to the death of King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

, considerable work had already been completed and she returned in 1953 to complete the refit, which included a white-painted hull. In 1954 the Queen's visit to Australia occurred and ''Gothic'' was used for the visit. The Australian Government film ''The Queen in Australia 1954'' featured the ship in

on arrival and

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

on departure three months later. This visit was part of Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

's coronation world tour in 1954.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gothic Ocean liners Royal Yachts of the United Kingdom Cargo liners 1947 ships Ships built by Swan Hunter