There have been 83 royal yachts of the
monarchy of the United Kingdom
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Baili ...
since the
restoration of the monarchy
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
*Restoration ecology
...
in 1660.
Charles II had 25 royal yachts,
while five were simultaneously in service in 1831.
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.
Since 1998, following a successful national tender process,
''Britannia'' has been berthed permanently at the
Port of Leith
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
in Edinburgh.
There are currently no British royal yachts, although
MV ''Hebridean Princess'' and
MY ''Leander G'' have both been used by the
royal family
A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term pa ...
.
Kingdom of England
''Data about launch years from ''Royal Yachts of the World'' (1997) by Tim Madge''
*
''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
Phineas Pett (1 November 1570 – August 1647) was a shipwright and First Resident Commissioner of Chatham Dockyard and a member of the Pett dynasty. Phineas left a memoir of his activities which is preserved in the British Library and was publi ...
* ''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)
* – 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
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 his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...
and family to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
*
''Gothic''* (1952–1954)
*
''Britannia'' (1954–1997)
*
MV ''Hebridean Princess''* (chartered 2006 and 2010)
*
MY ''Leander G''* (chartered 2007, 2008 and 2012)
* Not HMY
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
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...
,
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...
and
Department for International Trade
The Department for International Trade (DIT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for striking and extending trade agreements between the United Kingdom and foreign countries, as well as for encouraging foreign investment and ...
. 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
Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not prod ...
. By late 2022 some reports suggest that the UK government may not proceed with the new yacht.
See also
*
Royal Yacht Squadron
The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted (with the appropriate warrant) to w ...
*
Royal barge of the United Kingdom
*
Royal Mews
The Royal Mews is a mews, or collection of equestrian stables, of the British Royal Family. In London these stables and stable-hands' quarters have occupied two main sites in turn, being located at first on the north side of Charing Cross, and ...
*
State and royal cars of the United Kingdom
*
*
British Royal Train
The British Royal Train is used to convey senior members of the British royal family and associated staff of the Royal Household around the railway network of Great Britain. It is owned, maintained and operated by DB Cargo UK.
The Royal Trai ...
*
List of imperial and royal yachts by country
References
Sources
*
Further reading
*
*
External links
Royal Marines Bands
New York Times archiveThe end of the Royal Tour of 1901
New York Times archiveOrdering the new yacht in 1897
Collision of HMY Albee with the Mistletoe
New York Times archiveReview 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)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.
{{Royal Yachts of the United Kingdom, state=collapsed
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 ...
Yachts
A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...