''Thistle'' was the unsuccessful Scottish challenger of the seventh America's Cup in 1887 against American defender ''

Volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

''.

Design

The cutter ''Thistle'' was designed by

George Lennox Watson George Lennox Watson (30 October 1851 – 12 November 1904) was a Scottish naval architect. Born in Glasgow, son of Thomas Lennox Watson, a doctor at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and grandson of Sir Timothy Burstall, engineer and entrant at the ...

, with interiors by his brother

Thomas Lennox Watson Thomas Lennox Watson (21 August 1850 – 12 October 1920), FRIBA, was a Scottish architect and interior designer. Born in Glasgow, he submitted designs for the city's City Chambers (1880) and Kelvingrove Art Gallery (1892) competitions, but w ...

, and built at the D&W Henderson shipyard in

Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and ...

on the River Clyde and launched on 26 April 1887, for a syndicate of owners that included William Clark, John Clark,

Andrew Coates Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...

, William Coates, James Coates, George Coates, J. Hilliard Bell, and William Bell of the

Royal Clyde Yacht Club Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

, and headed by James Bell. She was built of all-metal construction, with a

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...

deck. ''Thistle'' was skippered by John Barr.

Career

''Thistle'' was built under conditions of great secrecy during the winter of 1886-7 and launched with her hull covered by a huge canvas. After winning or placing second in 13 of 15 Scottish regattas in her first year afloat, ''Thistle'' sailed to New York as the challenger in the 1887 America's Cup against the US defender, ''Volunteer''. Skippered by John Barr, she lost both Cup races, and returned to Scotland in September 1887. John Barr's younger brother

Charlie Barr Charles Barr (11 July 1864 – 24 January 1911), was an accomplished sailing skipper who three times captained winning America's Cup yachts. Early life Charlie Barr was born in Gourock, Scotland in 1864 and first apprenticed as a grocer before ...

was also a crew member who, after emigrating to the United States, went on to achieve success skippering three consecutive successful America's Cup defenders.

''Meteor''

Following a few very successful years racing in Britain, ''Thistle'' was sold to the German emperor

Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...

(who otherwise used the SMY ''Hohenzollern'') in 1891 for 90,000 gold marks and renamed ''Meteor''. Between 1892 and 1895 Wilhelm II raced against the ''

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

'' owned by his uncle the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

later

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

each year at the

Cowes Week Cowes Week ( ) is one of the longest-running regular regattas in the world. With 40 daily sailing races, up to 1,000 boats, and 8,000 competitors ranging from Olympic and world-class professionals to weekend sailors, it is the largest saili ...

. Being a more experienced yachtsmen and having the faster ship Edward won all the races comfortably. In 1895, ''Meteor'' was handed over to the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsh ...

as a school yacht and renamed ''Comet''. In 1921, the vessel was broken up.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

G.L.Watson & Co. LtdAmerica's Cup's Ac-clopaediaThe 19th-Century Yacht Photography of J.S. Johnston
{{America'sCup America's Cup challengers Individual sailing vessels Royal and presidential yachts Vessels of the Royal Yacht Squadron Sailing ships of Scotland History of Glasgow 1887 ships 1887 in Scotland Ships built on the River Clyde 1887 in sports