SS ''Gothic'' was a passenger-cargo liner 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 from 1952 to 1954.

Construction and commercial service

''Gothic'' was built by Swan Hunter,

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 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 status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

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 Mounta ...

. 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 . Ka ...

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 royal yacht 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 his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

, 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 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 durin ...

'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