SY ''Liberty'' was a steam yacht built in 1908 at Leith, Scotland, for
Joseph Pulitzer and one of the largest private yachts of its day. She served as a
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
hospital ship during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Description
The steam yacht ''Liberty'' was designed by
G L Watson & Co and launched by
Ramage & Ferguson Ltd at
Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
on 5 December 1907.
With a tonnage of 1,607
grt, length of and beam of , she was a large yacht by the standards of the day.
She had twin screws, powered by two
triple expansion steam engines made by the shipbuilder.
[
In addition to the expected high level of luxury, ''Liberty'' was especially fitted with ramps and soundproofing due to Pulitzer's blindness and extreme sensitivity to noise, and was nicknamed "The Tower of Silence".]
History
''Liberty'' was built in 1908 at a cost of US$1.5 million for newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, who died on board at Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
on 29 October 1911.[ She was sold to Scottish-Canadian businessman James Ross, renamed ''Glencairn'' and registered in ]Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, England.[ In 1914 she was purchased by ]Viscount Tredegar
Baron Tredegar, of Tredegar in the County of Monmouth, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 16 April 1859 for the Welsh politician Sir Charles Morgan, 3rd Baronet, who had earlier represented Brecon in Parliame ...
, who reverted her name to the original ''Liberty''.
In September 1915 she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy for the duration of World War I, initially as an auxiliary patrol yacht ''Liberty IV'', though soon transformed at Lord Tredegar's expense to a hospital ship, ''No. 10'',North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
and for much of the time under the command of her owner.[
After completion in December 1919 of a refit at Cowes as a yacht, Viscount Tredegar embarked on ''Liberty'' for a six-month cruise in the Mediterranean and Red Seas. After further summer cruising, he sold her to the shipping magnate Sir Robert Houston in September 1920. Following his marriage in 1924, Houston moved his residence to Jersey for tax reasons and also re-registered his yacht there. Like Pulitzer, he died on board the yacht, on 14 April 1926.
Left in his will to his wife ]Lucy, Lady Houston
Dame Fanny Lucy Houston, Lady Houston, Baroness Byron ( Radmall; 8 April 1857 – 29 December 1936) was a British philanthropist, political activist and suffragist.
Beginning in 1933, she published the '' Saturday Review'', which was best kno ...
, she lived aboard ''Liberty'' much of the time.
In the 1930s, to express her hatred for former prime minister Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...
, she hung a huge electric sign "Down with MacDonald the Traitor" in the rigging and sailed round the British Isles in her.
References
External links
HMHS Liberty
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberty
Steam yachts
Ships built in Leith
Hospital ships in World War I
1907 ships
Former yachts of New York City