royal yacht gothic

• 1953-1954: SS Gothic as royal yacht

Don Clayton, a 20-year-old Marconi radio officer from Liverpool, served aboard SS Gothic during the abandoned royal tour of Princess Elizabeth in 1952, and then during the actual tour with the new Queen Elizabeth in 1953-1954. The Chief R/O for the royal tour was Charlie Roberts and the 3rd was Don Pilgrim.

In the following interview from 2009 Don describes his experiences to ABC Hobart radio presenter Chris Wisbey, just after he had donated several items of royal yacht memorabilia to the Maritime Museum of Tasmania:

SS Gothic’s role as royal yacht

See also: Royal Yacht SS Gothic in Milford Sound

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SS Gothic took the Queen on her Commonwealth tour

Posted in Historical articles , Royalty , Ships on Sunday, 25 September 2011

Click on any image for details about licensing for commercial or personal use.

This edited article about ships originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 823 published on 22 October 1977.

The S.S. Gothic was the first merchant vessel to be taken over as a royal yacht, yet retain her status under the “Red Duster” without being taken over lock, stock and barrel by the Royal Navy.

When the P & O liner Medina, for example, was commissioned as a royal yacht, her officers and crew were drafted aboard from the Royal Navy.

The Gothic, however, maintained her mercantile crew and her captain was drafted from one of her contemporaries.

Her parent company, Shaw Savill and Albion Line, was a long established shipping concern, maintaining passenger and cargo services to many parts of the globe.

When World War Two ended, the company had to face the hard fact that thirteen ships had been lost – many of them large refrigeration vessels. High on the list for replacement were the ships needed for the New Zealand and Australian routes.

After a period of chartering and generally making-do, the company got into its stride again. After taking delivery of several fine new ships, a vessel which was destined for ever-lasting fame was launched. Her name was Gothic.

In 1951, a great honour was bestowed on the Shaw Savill line when the Gothic was chosen by the Admiralty for the Royal Commonwealth Tour to be made that year by King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, now the Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret.

Previous royal tours of this magnitude had usually been made by Royal Navy warships, and on the two occasions that merchant vessels had been used, the Navy had taken them over completely.

This time, Gothic, now in every respect a royal yacht, was to sail under the Red Ensign with her usual crew. In addition, she was to carry outward and homeward cargoes as on a normal voyage. Alterations were carried out to the accommodation and slight modifications were made, when because of the king’s ill health, it was decided that the tour would be carried out by Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh.

The Gothic sailed to East Africa, but their Royal Highnesses had to cancel their tour, owing to the sudden death of the king.

The following year the new Queen and the Duke decided to undertake another Commonwealth tour, and the Gothic was prepared again. For the occasion she was painted white, with green at her waterline, while her funnel carried the company’s colours of buff with black top.

It was the express wish of the Queen that Gothic should use her cargo capacity to the full while acting as a royal yacht, and in consequence she proceeded to Liverpool and London to load aboard 6,300 tons of general cargo.

Sir Winston Churchill was moved to make a statement on the tour in the House of Commons. “I move that an humble address be presented to her Majesty for the safe journey and happy return on her Commonwealth Tour.

“It will be the first time that a British sovereign has circumnavigated the globe. Her Majesty’s ship, Gothic, is more spacious and travels faster than the Golden Hind, but it may well be that the journey which the Queen is about to make will be no less auspicious and the treasures which she brings back no less bright than when Drake first sailed an English ship around the world.”

With Winston Churchill’s stirring words ringing in their cars, the crew of the Gothic sailed from London to Kingston, Jamaica, on 10th November, 1953. Twelve days later she embarked the Queen and Duke, who had crossed the Atlantic by air. From the West Indies onward, the Queen’s journey was a tremendous success. After passing through the Panama Canal, Gothic called at Suva and Tonga, and went on from there to Auckland and Wellington.

During the next two months, she also visited Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne and other ports before arriving at Fremantle. The next leg of the journey took her across the Indian Ocean to Cocos Island, Colombo and the Red Sea port of Aden.

Before reaching Aden, the Queen unexpectedly held an investiture aboard in which she bestowed honours, including a knighthood, upon members of the crew – thus making Merchant Navy history.

From Aden the Royal party flew to Tobruk, where they joined the royal yacht, Britannia, for the last leg back to England.

Her duties done, Gothic slipped quietly back into her cargo/passenger role with the rest of the Shaw Savill fleet.

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ssMaritime.com - Enter a world of Classic Passenger Liners, as well as Modern Cruise Ships

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With Dr. Reuben Goossens

Maritime Historian – Cruiser Reviewer in the Passenger Shipping Industry since 1960

Shaw Savill & Albion Line

The Corinthic Class Liners

S.S. Corinthic , Athenic , Ceramic & the Royal Yacht R.Y. Gothic

Note the two large scoop air ventilators in front of the funnel

Re the Royal Yacht – R.Y. Gothic

The magnificent Royal Yacht the R.Y. Gothic

PLEASE NOTE: Although there was an extended page on her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II and His Highness Prince Philip’s “ Coronation’s World Tour ” online on the R.Y. Gothic , however late last September I took it offline to introduce a more superior version on line with more details than I had previously! Considering our beloved Queen and Prince Philip, who sadly have now both passed away, May they Rest in Pease! Prince Philip did write to me thanking me for the article, and especially how I dealt with the tragic rail accident in New Zealand whilst they were there and their attendance at the funeral of those who had so sadly passed away. As well as their wonderful tour details in Fiji , Tonga and Australia and elsewhere. I do hope it will be back online before soon.

Re the Author of ssmaritine :

By his associate since 1983. Shmuel Elisha (SE) .

However whist at an out patient at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane Australia I had one of my once a month, fits which I usually come out of within a minute, maximum two minutes, But this lot who did now know me created hell when all was normal again, and me and my friend said “NO, we will go Home, He (I) is fine and we (I) Do not want to go to Emergency! Yet they rushed me to emergency, never checked my Medicine list, and made a disgraceful error and put me in a four day COMA and nearly killed me for they did not bother to check all my medicine list, and gave me for 4 days the very powerful opinion known as ENDONES. Official statements say’s: “ BUPREDERMAL or ( Norspan ) patches mixed with these medicines such as other  Opioids  like ENDONES will cause coma and death” .

Before this hospital I lived a normal life, and I enjoyed it even though I had certain health problem’s but they were perfectly controlled. This completely unseen doctor turned me from being a normal person, I am now a complete cripple and no longer have a life, like used to have before I went to an out patient, when the destroyed my life! I am now considered by our Government as one of the sickest people in the land. And I now receive home nursing.

He will try to up date this wonderful Royal Yacht with my help of course, as he is losing his sight and he can no longer stand at all, thus not walk anymore as he did last October. He was 100% normal with some Health problems, but he was perfectly managed by the finest Professors and the best Specialists, but the so-called and never ever seen dr. Kylie Johnson in the 10 ddays whilst he was in that evil hospital with for people around Him from early in the morning to late at night every single day. We found that that the Mater Hospital in Brisbane was a very dangerous place to be. Reuben and everyone we now will never set a foot in that place again, for they have no official government backing. (SE) .

Dr. Reuben Goossens, with Medals from the late Dutch Queen Juliana (centre), and the British Royal House (left side).

I have been thanked for writing on so many Dutch Liners, a well on countless British Ships, but the

British Medal was due to the feature on the R.Y. Gothic, which God willing will be back online soon!

If you so wish you can go directly to the Royal Yacht R.Y. Gothic

Further below

***********************

Shaw Shavill Ordering Their Four Ships:

In 1946 Saw Savill & Albion ordered four new passenger cargo liners that would join their much larger sister QSMV Dominion Monarch on the UK - New Zealand service. Each would be around 15,000 GRT (Gross registered tons) and accommodated 85 first class passengers. Being passenger cargo ships each had 6 large holds, with space for 668,000 cubic feet of cargo, of which 510,000 was for refrigerated goods.

PLEASE NOTE : All photographs, unless marked otherwise, are by the author, or from the author’s private collection. There are some from unknown sources. *Please read the special note at the bottom of the page in regard to these photographs.

Details in order of completion

S.S. Corinthic

SS Corinthic (2), built by Cammell Laird & Co Birkenhead (yard 1175), was the first of the series. She was launched on May 30, 1946, completed in April 1947 and departed on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Sydney on April 12, 1947.

SS Corinthic

*****************************

S.S. Athenic

The Corinthic was followed by SS Athenic (2), built by Harland and Wolff, Ltd, Belfast (yard 1326), was launched on November 26, 1946, completed in July 1947 and departed on her maiden voyage London to Auckland on August 1, 1947.

Athenic - launching on November 26, 1946

From the Harland and Wolff Archives

SS Athenic enters the water for the first time and will head for her fit-out berth

S.S. Ceramic

The second set was the SS ceramic (2), also built Cammell Laird (yard 1185), was launched December 30, 1947, completed in October 1948 and departed on her maiden voyage on November 6, 1948, from Liverpool to Auckland .

SS Ceramic in Auckland New Zealand

Note the new mushroom style ventilators forward and aft of the funnel

Ceramic arriving in Lyttelton () in the South Island of New Zealand on September 23, 1961

Photograph by and © Dave Edge - New Zealand

S.S. Gothic

The fourth, the SS Gothic (2), built by Swan Hunter, Wallsend -on-Tyne (yard 1759), would become the most famed of the quartet as she would become the Royal Yacht in 1952-53. She was launched on December 12, 1947, completed in December 1948, and departed on her maiden voyage on December 23, 1948, sailing from Liverpool to Sydney .

SS Gothic seen as built with the “Thorneycroft” funnel

Differences between the first & second sets of ships

The hulls on both the Ceramic and Gothic varied somewhat from their earlier sisters, having “rolled” bows and mushroom style deck ventilators, whilst their older sisters having “razor” style bows and scoop ventilators, however, their superstructures were the same. In 1951 Ceramic and Gothic were given “Thorneycroft” smoke-deflecting funnel tops. These proved such a success they were also fitted to P&O’s Himalaya and Chusan in 1953.

Accommodations

Like their famed running mate QSMV Dominion Monarch, their appointments were luxurious with walls clad in fine timbers, Persian rugs adorning the floors, as well as a host of tapestries, murals and fine paintings. Accommodating just 85, passengers obviously lived in considerable comfort! For the number of passengers, their superstructures were quite large. Each featured two wide covered promenade decks and spacious sports decks above.

The stately QSMV Dominion Monarch

A photo of a model of the ship - sent in by J. Thurston

Public rooms: Promenade deck aft featured the elegant Smoke Room, followed by the light and airy Verandah Café. The Dinning Room and Main Lounge was located forward on Bridge ( Main ) deck.

All “Premium” cabins were located on boat deck, with other cabins being situated forward on Promenade deck, and aft on Main deck. Each had 53 cabins, consisting of suites, twin and single bedded cabins, most having private facilities. The standard and style of accommodation was in line with the luxurious Dominion Monarch.

Their main rivals on the Panama route to New Zealand were the New Zealand Shipping Company’s much larger Rangitoto and Rangitane . Yet many preferred the intimacy of the Corinthic Class Passenger-Cargo Liners.

Schedules were varied: As example From May to December in 1954 both the SS Athenic and Ceramic sailed from London, via Tenerife or Las Palmas, Cape Town, to Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and then to New Zealand ports and homeward. Both Gothic and Corinthic operated on the London , Curacao, Cristobal /Balboa, New Zealand service. Later in the sixties all four ships operated on this service, but did alternate Curacao with Trinidad in July-Oct/Nov 1962/63. Thereafter from 1964 to 1966 they operated on a round the world service sailing from the UK via the Panama Canal and returning via South Africa . This information was gleaned from schedules dated - 1954, 1962/63 and 1994 to 1966. Please note: I have no actual departure dates only the information given above as I obtained details from the front cover of these schedules I found online.

SS Corinthic seen at Lyttleton New Zealand on 13 May 1962

Photograph © Dave Edge – New Zealand

Specifications

Tonnage:                             Corinthic -15,682 (14,285 - 1965)

                                         Athenic – 15,187 (14,248 - 1965)

                                         Ceramic – 15,869

                                         Gothic – 15,902

Length - Beam:                    Corinthic – 560ft x 71.2ft

                                         Athenic – 564ft x 71.2ft

                                         Ceramic – 564ft x 72.2ft

                                         Gothic – 561ft x 72.2ft

Draught:                             All - 29.7ft

Engines:                              Geared steam turbines from builders

SHP:                                   14,000

Screws:                               Twin

Service speed:                     17 knots

Passenger decks:     Four

Passengers:                         85 first class

Crew:                                  95

Also read : The Rob Wilson Story - Engineer on S.S. Corinthic 1961/62

Royal Yacht – R.Y. Gothic

PLEASE NOTE: Although there was an extended page on her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s “Coronation’s World Tour” online, however late last September I took it offline to introduce far more material considering our beloved Queen and the Prince Philip had passed away; May they Test in Peace!

However as you may have read above there has been a tragedy with Reuben, and we hope that we may be able together to finish these pages. Thankfully he had written much of it before e visited that evil Hospital that completely destroyed his Life! (SE) .

The Reason it may take a while is because of the following:

Reuben, with my help will try to update the Royal Yacht Gothic pages with help of my assistance, as he is going blind and not able to stand any more or walk. All of those things he could do before the Mater Hospital in Brisbane Australia who severely poisoned Him with a medicine which he was not permitted to have, his doctor and every medical expert made this very clear, such as Opioids like ENDONE ! Reuben was 100% normal with some health problems and pain which he has gad since 1987, but he was perfectly managed by the very Professors and Specialists, but this lot in this Hospital where he was just going to an out clinic, seemed to go totally mad. The so-called and never ever seen in 10 days dr who proved to be nothing more than a GP Kylie Johnson proved to be very Dangerous . I am sure that Reuben will never set a foot in that place ever again, for they are not an official government backed Hospital, and from my experience they are very dangerous! Four people sad around his almost 24 hours per day whist he was in a four day coma, having made a complaint, they cme back with   no not in a coma, he was just drowsy. Sorry ms no one, two of as are medically trained and he did not wake up for full days, not a single eye blink, that my dear is a Coma! The Hospital is now under investigation. Official Medical sources clearly state “ BUPREDERMAL (another name is ‘ Norspan ’) patches with medicines, including other Opioids like ENDONE will cause COMA or DEATH ”. Obviously Reuben was wearing a Norspan Patch 30 mg, but the Hospital did not bother to check his medicine list! R.E.

The S.S. Gothic was Refitted first in 1951:

Gothic was sent to Cammell Laird shipyards in 1951 to be refitted to become the Royal Yacht for a tour of Australia and New Zealand . However, due to the sad passing of King George obviously the tour was cancelled. Although considerable work had already been done, but she was returned in 1953 to continue the refit. During this refit her hull painted white, and she looked very attractive indeed.

SS Gothic the Royal Yacht in Hobart in February 1954

*Photographer unknown

 The Royal Suites and Lounges and Dinning Room were magnificent, and the work was done in a palatial manner.

This passenger lounge was converted to be the Queens private lounge

This commemorative postcard was issued for New Zealand and Australia

The SS Gothic 1953/54 – Souvenir Royal Tour Badge

A superb shot of the Royal Yacht

She carried HRH Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh to the Caribbean and later across the pacific for the Royal visit to Australia and New Zealand .

SS Gothic seen in Fremantle, note the Royal standard on the forward mast departing the Port of Fremantle

The Final Years of the Gothic

After her Royal duties, her hull was repainted black again and returned to her regular duties sailing from London to New Zealand . Both Gothic and Ceramic remained full time passenger-cargo liners, sailing between Britain and New Zealand , whereas in 1965 Corinthic was sent to Schiedam in the Netherlands and Athenic to Newcastle to have all passenger accommodations removed and were converted as full time cargo ships.

Repainted in her original livery, the Gothic returned to regular passenger’s services

Seen with her new funnel extension after her Royal Yacht days

On August 2, 1968, having left New Zealand several days earlier, Gothic suffered a devastating fire onboard. The crew were valiant and extinguished fire. Sadly seven lives were lost and the ship suffered considerable damage. She had to make it back to Wellington in bad weather conditions and the following photograph was carried in the Wellington Evening Post when she finally arrived.

The Gothic encounters stormy seas as she approaches Wellington

Wellington Evening Post

Whilst in New Zealand the structural damage was temporary repaired, then upon her departure for Liverpool , she was listed as 15,109 GRT. Having returned to Britain the fire damage was never fully repaired. After an extended stay in Liverpool she made only one more return voyage to New Zealand after which was sold to Taiwanese breakers. Having been such a successful and a beautiful combination liner for 21 years, her days ended when she arrived at Kaohsiung on August 13, 1969. I know that I will never forget her!

SS Gothic seen after the partial fire repairs

Forward windows were sealed and cabins remained closed after the fire

One of the last photographs taken of the Gothic

The R.Y. Gothic will be on the main page soon at; click the Link below, if not there as yet, click the back arrow

ssMaritime.co m

The end of the S.S. Corinthic and Athenic

Sadly the demise of her two sisters SS Corinthic and the Athenic followed all too soon after as they were sold to Taiwanese breakers. They arrived in Kaohsiung just two days apart, on October 23 and October 25, 1969, respectively and were duly broken up. However the third of the series would live on for a while yet and thrill ship lovers in the UK and in New Zealand for a while longer!

The last ship of the Series – S.S. Ceramic

The wonderful SS Ceramic sailed on as the longest serving passenger-cargo ship of the series

SS Ceramic served for another three years, serving a total of 24 years, as a full time passenger-cargo liner. However early 1972 she was sold to Belgium breakers and she arrived at the Boel & Fils breakers yard at Tamise on June 13, 1972.

The Author’s Memories

Whilst working in the passenger shipping industry first in Wellington , and later in Auckland , I had the opportunity to visit each ship many times. I came to love these ships and the passengers always spoke of their happy experiences, especially the fine service onboard and the wonderful meals enjoyed. *Yes, many would tell me that “in rough seas they were not the most stable ships at sea,” yet few complained. For some reason the Gothic made the greatest impression on me, I do not know why, but although all four ships were very similar, in fact almost identical, she had a special and a unique atmosphere, and I enjoyed my many visits on her. Sadly, I never had the opportunity to sail on these fine ships.

*Recently I received an interesting email from Dick Goodey who was the Second Engineer on both Corinthic and Athenic he wrote in response to the above statement “in rough seas they were not the most stable ships at sea.” I would like to place his most informative email below as it contains some interesting information.

“Dear Reuben,

For many years I have enjoyed your entertaining writing on real ships, and agree with the majority of your views. However, I must take issue with your; “ in rough seas they were not the most stable ships at sea," The statement itself is true, but gives the impression that these ships were uncomfortable in rough weather. Even when fully loaded with several thousand tons of butter in their holds, these ships had a small meta-centric height and thus technically were not the most stable ships at sea. However, this gave them a very nice slow and even rolling motion, far more comfortable than the unnatural, stiff, stabilized motion of the larger modern vessels. There were no better ships to take a far south great circle route across the Pacific.

On the subject of great circle routes, you will be interested in the method of steering the Athenic . Frank White who was the Chief Engineer for almost 20 years, ordered one screw to turn slightly faster in order to keep the rudder amidships as much as possible. Outward, the port screw was faster homeward it was starboard’s turn. The system worked, the Athenic used less fuel than the Corinthic !

I sailed as Second Engineer on both Corinthic and Athenic , undoubtedly the high water mark of my sea-going career.”

I thank Dick Goodey for this insight of the running of the ships!

Ceramic arriving in Auckland New Zealand in the mid sixties    

Also read : The Rob Wilson Story - 9th . Engineer on SS Corinthic 1961/62

Over the years Reuben has received thousands of Dear Dr. Goossens emails of thanks and on this page there are just some of them .

The following are all my Shaw Savill features on ssMaritime.com :

1... SS Athenic Class Ships :       These three fine liners built in 1902/03 introduced two of the names on this page .

2… QSMV Dominion Monarch :              She was Shaw Savill’s the ultimate Super Luxury Liner.

3… SS Corinthic Class Liners :              Four fine Luxury Passenger Cargo ships built in 1947/48.

4… SS Corinthic Part Two:                  The story by S.S.  Corinthic’s Engineer by Rob Wilson who served

.       onboard  from 1961 to 1962.

  5… Royal Yacht “R.Y. Gothic:              Currently being up dated, back online soon.

        6… SS Southern Cross :                           A 23 webpage feature on a revolutionary passenger liner!

***********************************

Blue Water Liners sailing to the distant shores. I watched them come, I watched them go and I watched them die. ”

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Where the ships of the past and the Luxury Cruise Liners of today make history .

The Author has been in Passenger Shipping & the Cruise Industry since 1960.

“Managing Director”, and “Owned a Cruise Company”

In addition he was founder of “Save the Classic Liners Campaign” in 1990.

Please Note : ssmaritime and associated sites are 100% non-commercial and the author  seeks  no funding of any shape or form, never have and never will!

Photographs on ssmaritime and associate pages are by ;  the author or from the author’s private collection. In addition there are some images that have been provided by Shipping Companies and private photographers or collectors. Credit is given to all contributors. However, there are some photographs provided to me without details regarding the photographer/owner concerned, so sorry if this is the case.

This notice covers all pages ;  although, and I have done my best to ensure that all photographs are duly credited and that this notice is displaced on each page, that is, when a page is updated!

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The Royal Yacht

Written by godfrey dykes, © rn communications branch museum/library,   today, when we talk of the royal yacht we generally think of hmy britannia, however, if one consults wikipedia you will see there have been 84 royal yachts as follows:, mary 1660–1675) royal escape anne 1661–u/k) bezan (1661–u/k) katherine (1661–u/k) charles (1662–u/k) jamie henrietta henrietta merlin* (1666–u/k) monmouth (1666–u/k) navy (1666–u/k) saudadoes (1670–u/k) cleveland (1671–u/k) queenborough (1671–u/k) deale (1673–u/k) isle of wight (1673–u/k) kitchen (1674–u/k) katherine (1674-u/k) portsmouth (1674–u/k) charles (1675–u/k) charlot (1677–u/k) mary (1677–u/k) henrietta (1679–u/k) izabella bezan (1680–u/k) fubbs (1682–u/k) isabella (1680–u/k) william & mary (1694–u/k) squirrel (1695–u/k) scout (1695–u/k) queenborough (1701–u/k) soeesdyke (1702–u/k) portsmouth (1702–u/k) isabella (1703–u/k) drake (1705–u/k) dublin (1709–u/k) bolton (1709–u/k) charlot (1710–u/k) carolina (1710–u/k) chatham (1710–u/k) chatham (1741–u/k) portsmouth (1742–u/k) royal caroline (1749–1820) dorset (1753–u/k) plymouth (1755–u/k) augusta (1771–u/k) portsmouth (1794–u/k) plymouth (1796–u/k) royal sovereign (1804–u/k) william & mary (1807–u/k) royal george (1817–1842) prince regent (1820–u/k) royal charlotte (1824–u/k) royal adelaide (1834–1878) victoria and albert (1843–1855) fairy (1845–1863) elfin (1848–1901) victoria and albert (ii) (1855–1900) alberta (1863–1913) osborne (1870–1908) victoria and albert (iii) (1901–1937) ss ophir (1901) alexandra (1908–1925) rms medina (1911–1912) britannia (royal cutter yacht) (1893–1936) rms empress of britain (1931–1940) rms empress of australia (1939) hms renown (1916) hms vanguard (1947) gothic (1952–1954) britannia (1954–1997) mv hebridean princess 2006 & 2010 this page concentrates on just three of them; the victoria and albert iii, the gothic and of course hmy britannia., victoria and albert iii,   the following is from wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:,    hmy victoria and albert iii a royal yacht of the royal navy of the united kingdom. she was launched in 1899 but was not ready for service until 1901. queen victoria had lobbied parliament for many years for a more modern yacht - hmy victoria and albert dated from 1855, and won this expenditure after pointing out that both the russian tsar and the german kaiser both had larger and more modern yachts than great britain. unfortunately she died seven months before the launch. the total cost of the ship was £572,000 (five-sevenths the cost of the battleship hms renown). this is the third yacht to be named 'victoria and albert' and was fitted with steam engines. built at pembroke dock wales and launched in 1899, it measured 380 feet in length by 40 feet in the beam with a tonnage of 4700. the yacht was used regularly up until the world war ii when it was laid up and used as an accommodation ship in portsmouth harbour. the victoria and albert iii was finally sold in 1954 for breaking at faslane, scotland.,   victoria and albert iii served four sovereigns, and took part in two fleet reviews (in 1935 and the coronation review of the fleet, 1937), but was withdrawn after the latter and decommissioned in 1939. she served as a depot ship during world war ii, as an accommodation ship to hms excellent, and was broken up in 1954.,   although there were plans for a new yacht to be built these were suspended due to the outbreak of world war ii. eventually britannia replaced her in 1954.,   an erstwhile fory (flag officer royal yachts - plural, because we used to have more than one in commission at any given time, and now because of mean politicians, not even one) has kindly given my very good friend tugg (p e willson ex rn chief sparker) a couple of interesting naval photographs which are worthy of showing (somewhere) on the internet and tugg has loaned them to me for that purpose.,   this first picture shows the victoria and albert iii in her build-shed at pembroke dock on the 9th may 1899 ready to be launched. if you look carefully you can see her stern and her rudder very clearly and high above it, her white ensign. the general water scene shows two empty boats/barges (obviously ready to be used for an emergency) and two boats (one, to the right as viewed, of the launching shed and one well over to the left of the picture) with security personnel embarked. the royal barge, which has a crew of 16 {14 oarsmen seated on thwarts, a junior officer {a lieutenant) and a first class petty officer behind the backboard aft), and seven passengers sitting in the stern sheets, is under way (modern navy)/under weigh (old navy), with both the ensign and the bow flag duly affected. the oarsmen are at rest with their oars out resting on the rowlocks. the senior male person present in the barge was hrh the prince arthur, duke of connaught (1850-1942), the 7th child of queen victoria and 3rd son, and known to be her favourite son. he had two elder brothers, the eldest hrh prince albert victor (known as prince eddy) {after whom the albert memorial chapel at windsor is named) the duke of clarence, would have been king albert after king edward vii, but he died in 1892 (seven years before this event), was, according to olivia bond in her book "the royal way of death" {isbn 0094654301), a frequent companion of male prostitutes and a regular visitor to male brothels. believe it or not, this man {) was engaged to the lovely princess may, who eventually married the duke of connaught's next eldest brother hrh prince george, a profoundly different and thoroughly decent man. prince george and princess may later became king george v and queen mary (of teck), but before being so, they were their royal highness's the the duke and duchess of york - exactly the same happened to the next duke and duchess of york when king edward viii abdicated - they became king george vi and queen elizabeth. she, hrh princess may duchess of york, as the wife of a prince (george) senior to prince arthur, was the senior person present in the barge, and was therefore said to be accompanied by the duke of connaught. like all launchings, she, as a lady, would do the necessary, not by breaking a bottle, but by cutting a rope as told in the files below - note at this time in our history queen victoria was still alive so the duchess and her husband were technically some way away from becoming the king and queen after hm king edward vii and queen alexandra had had their turn. why wasn't hrh the duchess of connaught (1860-1917) present with her husband, or for that matter, the duke of york with his wife history doesn't tell us why, but the d of c was a very popular royal (and beautiful with it - a diana of her day) and one assumes she was busy fulfilling the requirements of her own diary. other dignitaries were present in the barge (five in total) but they are not important for our purposes. however, it would have been nice to have known the name of the fory at that time or any of the dignitaries who were members of the crew of the new yacht. if you know the answer please let me know and i will add the details here. thank you.,   her international radio callsign was gfur. the flag flying forward, is a standard and the personal standard of trh (their royal highnesses) the duke and duchess of york the light and angle of the personal standard is such that only the top white horizontal bar shows correctly, but it was a bright, vibrant and multi coloured standard which i have researched and shown here. to help you to understand more fully and thus to enjoy the story, the following pdf file shows you the personal standard in its true colours and the zooming tool of the file will allow you to zoom in on the barge and its forward flag. you will be able to make out the top white horizontal stripe (known as the white label) with its three points or pendants (white boxes below evenly spaced, some bearing motifs whilst others are left blank) which denote children of the sovereign* ; in the middle a row of 'dots' which trace an arc from bottom right to top left through the central heraldic shield and the horizontal bars of the shield itself can be seen, and in the bottom left quadrant, the vague outline of the harp.,   this picture is just a nice to have (or nice to see) historic naval photograph. it is not part of my story, except that it is very royal and as such of great interest. first note the coxswain behind the backboard aft of the stern sheets and compare him with the coxswain in the picture above. one is in square-rig and one in fore and aft rig. the four known passengers in the stern sheets are their majesties king george v and queen mary with their children edward, the next in line to the throne as king edward viii, and the princess mary the princess royal, either approaching or shoving off from terra firma or a ship's side. the period is believed to be about 1911 shortly after his father's (king edward vii) death when edward would have been 17 (and dressed as a midshipman) and mary would have been 14. the tossing of oars is not what one might expect from yachties (royal yachtsmen). the stroke (first oarsmen) have it right, with upright oars and both men are using their outboard hands to hold their oars; the next pair have skew-whiff oars but their hands are correctly applied, but the third pair have both skew-whiff oars and the port side man is hold his oar with his inboard hand - tut tut the rating holding the boat hook is either a 1st class petty officer (cross hooks and a crown above them) or a 2nd class petty officer (single killick with a crown above) but it is difficult to ascertain from his stance..

  The title is 'A ROYAL YACHTSMAN' by Danny Brown © first published in 1999 in Cape Town South Africa as a limited edition ISBN 0 620 23999 9. Sadly, once back in St Helena and having settled in, Danny passed away. Here are just a few of Danny's collection of photographs taken during his time on HMY Britannia. (Click on an image to enlarge it and reveal the caption.)

  britannia secured alongside - not sure where but the flags aloft at the very tops of the three masts tell a tale and being dressed over all suggests a very important occasions. those mast head flags forard to aft are the admiral commanding flag of a rear admiral (fory) - pass on the middle - and the white ensign aft. the flags tell one just who is onboard, and it is my understanding, subject to correction, that the three flags we see here are part and parcel of the dress ship when it would seem strange with just an overall string of bunting strung over the mast leaving the very tops as bare wooden stalks. it is possible that the centre flag on the man mast is a royal personages standard for i think i spy a harp and some prostrate animals. when the yacht has the monarch aboard the flags flying are on foremast lord high admirals flag; main mast the royal standard and on the mizzen a union flag. the rear admirals flag is flown on the foremast when royalty are not embarked but in this case it has been shifted higher up the foremast just to clear the dress ship line forard. there again because a white ensign is flying where normally a union flag flies and with the rear admirals flag forard the mainmast flag, a standard of sorts, it could just mean that it is the monarchs vessel with the current highest rank on board the commanding officer of the vessel (fory) no more than that.,   her majesty's very first use of hmy britannia was on the 2nd may 1954 when she reviewed the mediterranean fleet under the command of admiral lord louis mountbatten of burma, having left the shaw saville liner gothic at aden. her majesty, with the duke of edinburgh embarked in britannia at tobruk having flown from raf khormaksar. the royal yacht had travelled from the uk to malta on completion of trials, with a nursery supporting prince charles (6) and princess anne (4) arriving malta on the 22nd april 1954. therefore, both children used the yacht before their parents. britannia sailed from tobruk back to malta being met approximately 200 miles off malta by the fleet, at which time admiral mountbatten, flying his flag in the cruiser hms glasgow, transferred to the royal yacht.,   the picture below shows the yacht arriving in grand harbour without her royal presence (no flags on the masts) and with a gathering of interest on the flight deck of hms ark royal where, given that the commanding officer of the yacht was a rear admiral, the pipe (or was it a bugle call ) "attention on the upper deck - face to port" would have been made/sounded. the yacht is escorted by lcvp's (landing craft vehicle and personnel)., queen’s request for new royal yacht britannia removed from public scrutiny., copyright the times red box 30th january 2019 including picture and text, unless otherwise stated differently.,   on the decommissioning of the britannia, hm the queen’s requested for a new royal yacht britannia. this request has subsequently been removed from public scrutiny. the following is copyright of the times red box 30th january 2019 including pictures and text, unless otherwise stated., the royal yacht britannia was decommissioned in 1997 after the labour government took office.,   a confidential government file that disclosed how the queen lobbied for a new royal yacht has become a state secret once more.,   the times revealed a month ago that a senior buckingham palace official wrote to the cabinet office in 1995 saying that the queen would “very much welcome” a replacement for the royal yacht britannia, due to be decommissioned. the report was based on a welsh office document that had been released into the national archives, where it was found by philip murphy.,   the file has now been removed from public view. a note in the catalogue says: “this record is closed whilst access is under review.”,   although government papers are usually made available after a number of years — it was formerly 30 but is being changed to 20 — files relating to the royal family are usually kept secret.,   the welsh office file’s disappearance was noted by david mcclure, who is researching a book on royal finances. when mr mcclure first requested the file this month he was told: “unfortunately the document you have requested is currently in use so we are unable to make it available for your visit.”,   when he submitted another request two weeks later he discovered it was closed. an official told him that she had forwarded his request to the national archives’ freedom of information team.,   mr mcclure said: “they are retrospectively pulling it back. it is symptomatic of an overzealous, overprotective attitude towards royal documents. it is a deferential cringe.”,   the file included a letter from the queen’s deputy private secretary, sir kenneth scott, who said that the queen would “very much welcome” a new yacht. he added: “the last thing i should like to see is a newspaper headline saying ‘queen demands new yacht’.” although john major’s government said that it would replace britannia, when labour won power in 1997 tony blair decided not to. britannia was decommissioned that year.,   professor murphy, director of the institute of commonwealth studies, who discovered the document in october, believes that it was overlooked because it was in a relatively “boring” welsh office file. he said: “it looks as if the palace has asked the government why this document was in the public domain, and the government has clawed it back.”,   however, sources have said that it was the cabinet office — not the palace — that asked for it to be reviewed.,   professor murphy said there had been past cases of the government reviewing documents that have been in the public domain. “they have demanded them back, and then redacted them further or retained them, because they had not realised that sensitive stuff was out there,” he said. “there is an absolute ban on material relating to the monarch and the heir to the throne. the vetters are always sensitive about any document that appears to show the queen’s view on something.”,   he said that it was in the public interest to understand how the constitutional monarchy works. “if you say that any document which records a personal opinion by the queen should be censored, you are robbing the public of the ability to learn anything about the constitutional history of britain over the last 65 years.”,   it remains unclear whether the file has been retained permanently or merely until a decision is made.,   my thanks to the red box team of which i am a subscriber,   if you have a navy list to hand open it and type in the name donald gosling . from the title above you might be a little taken aback to find that that name returns an honorary vice admiral rnr promoted from an honorary rear admiral.,     donald (sir donald) gosling     retired before 1966: no     rank history     honorary vice admiral rnr 2|4|2012     honorary rear admiral royal naval reserve 2|4|2012 (the date shown for the rear admiral is wrong and it should be 2nd march 2009.     decorations and post nominals kcvo     rn branch arm or group (2007 style)     branch and specialisation (pre 2007 style),   it would also show you his decoration of a kcvo which would tell you that he was high up on the list for his personal services to the royal family and this knighthood was granted to him and bestowed upon him by her majesty queen elizabeth ii. the letters stand for knight commander of the victorian order which like all decorations and the medal associated with that order (rvm, mvo, lvo, cvo, kcvo, gcvo are personal gifts to the recipients and come directly from buckingham palace and the monarch and not from 10 downing street. he was also created a knight of st john.,   sir donald died on the 16th september 2019 at the grand old age of 90 and his memorial service was held in westminster abbey attended by senior members of the royal family.,   he joined the rnr in london in 1944 and became a telegraphist serving in the cruiser hms leander in the mediterranean, being discharged in early 1947. although a short time in the service he never forgot that experience and remained an active member of rnr attending training meetings in hms president keeping a keen interest in wireless telegraphy, and his service in the rnr to the end of his life.,   to say the least his future as a civilian post war wasn't at all sure and just to make a living, he and a friend invested £200 to buy a bombed site, one of several in the holborn area of london which they cleared and opened as a car park. although they did not know it was the start of what became the ncp - national car parks - empire and both men became mega rich by the time they retired, sir donald was still with the business as late as 1998. the ncp grew rapidly first because of the amount of motor cars flooding into london and other large cities from the 1960's, but from the stock market appreciations and from a concentrated m&a (mergers and acquisitions) taking over all other competitors in all parts of the land offering that service business.,   my good friend fcrs jim bradley from malta days in the late 1950's left the rn and took a job working for ncp. knowing jim, a bright spark and an affable man he progressed well in the company and reached a senior position. there can be no doubt that he and donald gosling got on very well together both being naval telegraphists. at membership no 16, he was one of the first to join the rncca and i see he is still listed, and today he will be around the age of 84/5.,   donald gosling was a shrewd man, and generous to a fault and spent his wealth wisely on projects which interested him from experience. he was for example a kind of a second herbert lott, quietly and privately giving huge amounts to various naval charities, funds and associated maritime charities like the kgfs (king george fund for sailors). he also gifted the sea cadet corps and never forgot the wrns known to him for their fantastic operational excellence particularly in the communication branch during the war. whenever he learned of personal royal endeavours like for example the duke of edinburgh's award scheme and later on the princes trust he was first in with funds to keep them financially buoyant. whatever he considered meritorious and british he was there with his cheque book. in 2012 he pledged a huge amount of money of many tens of millions to help save hms victory.,   that sheer generosity went on for a long time until it was suggested that he should be recognised, by whom i knoweth not. this manifested in promotions within naval circles instead of civic honours like mbe's and obe's inter alia and in january 1993 after he had given away scores of millions of pounds he was granted an honorary rank of captain rnr. in may 2005 that became an honorary commodore then march 2009 an honorary rear and vice admiral rnr in 2012. for his generosity to the royal family direct he received the high order of the kcvo, second only to a gcvo from the queen herself. he not only gave generously but loaned his famous huge yacht plus its entire crew (the size of a small frigate and called after the cruiser he served in as a telegraphist in ww2 "leander g" ) to deserving cases, but also cared deeply for his wartime branch of the armed forces. he became a trustee of the fleet air arm museum at yeovilton in 1974 and vice-president of seafarers uk in 1993. he also had a long association with the white ensign association, serving as chairman from 1979 to 1983, vice president from 1983 to 1987 and then as president on the council of management. he received an honorary degree of doctor of maritime studies from southampton university.,   his final gesture was to offset the apparent mean ways of parliament, where both labour and tory had denied the wishes of the queen for a britannia replacement (labour by taking the yacht from the royals in the first place and the tories, following on from the defeated socialist government, refusing to fund a replacement), by leaving in his will £50 million for a newly built vessel. it did not occur because the government refused to pay its running costs, maintenance, refits and the crews wages. i can only guess at where that £50 million gbp went but i'll wager it went to good causes in memory of a thoroughly good man and naval officer.,   a photograph of sir donald with the queen and prince philip with a lovely smiling face giving sir donald a gift of his rear admiral's flag - a st george's flag with a red ball in the upper canton and a second red ball beneath in the 3rd quarter., prince charles and the countess of cornwall at the memorial service, westminster abbey for sir donald., sir donald gave a huge sum of money to help save hms victory and here he is seen signing the visitors book in nelson's cabin aboard the famous ship.,   and that my friends is a sad story, but is it, for it goes to show that sometimes, money certainly isn't the root of all evil, indeed any, farewell sir donald and may you r.i.p.,   and the last word(s) in this story go to the hrh the duke of edinburgh., taken from the scotsman newspaper., duke's britannia broadside for the snp., published 26/01/2003 00:00,   the duke of edinburgh is a formidable foe on dry land, but to engage him at sea is suicidal.,   the duke, a former naval officer, has fired a broadside at one of scotland’s leading nationalist politicians after he questioned his decision to strip the royal yacht britannia of most of its fixtures and fittings.,   mike russell, the snp’s culture spokesman, recently wrote to prince philip asking where the items were and demanding their return to the yacht, which has become one of scotland’s most popular tourist attractions.,   the duke has now replied, splintering the decks of the good ship russell with the verbal equivalent of grapeshot. in a letter from the duke's private secretary, he bluntly insists everything is accounted for and is staying put.,   however, he has admitted that some of the artefacts have been divided among various royal palaces or loaned to "other institutions" and not kept together as one collection.,   prince philip stripped most of the showpiece dining room furniture and paintings from the yacht before it became a floating tourist attraction in leith four years ago.,   he refused to let the ship’s new owners keep the items, saying he wanted to turn part of the royals’ country retreat at frogmore house, near windsor, into a britannia room.,   in a letter sent last thursday, the duke says everything on board britannia was inventoried by the royal collection trust and that frogmore house "does contain a very good selection" of the dining room furniture, many of the principal pictures and other objects.,   "other items are held elsewhere in the royal palaces and some items are on loan to other institutions where they are on display to the public," wrote brigadier miles hunt-davies, the duke’s private secretary.   he added: "in reply to the implication in your (russell’s) letter that the public should know that items are still in the possession of the royal family, i am able to assure you that as all the items are either privately owned by the royal family or are part of the royal collection trust, they are all recorded on a database.,   "it was quite clear that in order to accommodate the visitor route (on britannia) there would be quite substantial physical alterations and therefore the number of rooms to be shown to the public, in reality, would be quite small.,   "this also meant that there would be limited space for the display of furniture, pictures and other objects.",   the letter concludes: "the former royal yacht britannia trust made a number of requests for items, most of which were met, with the final list of items being personally approved by the queen and the duke of edinburgh.",   russell said last night the letter confirmed suspicions that the items taken from britannia were no longer in one collection and were now dispersed in various locations.,   he said: "i am disappointed that the original commitment has not been met to keep this collection as a whole. they should be publicly available in a place where the vast majority of scots can see them.",   the dining room was the showpiece area of britannia where guests were entertained at lavish banquets.,   among the items kept by the duke were the specially-made mahogany and ebony-edged dining table - with an add-on 6ft leaf - which can seat 32.   also taken was the main sideboard with two large silver gilt vases known as nelson and collingwood, presented by the national patriotic fund to vice admiral lord collingwood and nelson’s widow after the battle of trafalgar in 1805.,   a spokeswoman for the royal collection confirmed that many of the items were now dispersed over several royal households.,   she said: "ornamental objects have indeed been redisplayed in frogmore house, which is open to the public during the summer months.,   "useful objects - china, glasses, armchairs etc - have been put into use in the residences. nothing has been thrown away.",   more than 1,000 of britannia’s items were released to the trust which now runs the attraction, but it has refused to be drawn into the row.,   britannia arrived in leith in may 1998 after the then defence secretary, george robertson, announced that forth ports had won the bid to berth the yacht. the purchase price was just £250,000 - the equivalent to her scrap value. she now attracts 300,000 visitors a year, with adults paying £8..

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INDIAN OCEAN. 1954-04-03. AERIAL VIEW OF THE ROYAL YACHT GOTHIC ON PASSAGE FROM FREMANTLE TO ...

INDIAN OCEAN. 1954-04-03. AERIAL VIEW OF THE ROYAL YACHT GOTHIC ON PASSAGE FROM FREMANTLE TO COCOS ISLAND. SHE IS BEING ESCORTED BY THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER HMAS VENGEANCE (FOREGROUND) FLYING THE FLAG OF REAR ADMIRAL R. R. DOWLING CBE DSO, FLAG OFFICER COMMANDING THE AUSTRALIAN FLEET. THE DESTROYERS ARE HMAS ANZAC, (NEARER) AND BATAAN. FURTHEST FROM THE CAMERA IS THE CRUISER HMS CEYLON. (NAVAL HISTORICAL COLLECTION)

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• Period 1950-1959
• HMAS Anzac (1919-1933)
• HMAS Anzac (1951-1974)
• HMAS Bataan (1945-1954)
• HMAS Vengeance
• Asia: Ceylon
• Oceania: Australia, Western Australia, Fremantle
• Oceans: Indian Ocean, Cocos Keeling Islands
• Aerial photographs
• Aircraft carriers
• British Ships
• Dowling, Roy Russell

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Luxury rules at the moscow yacht show.

by Maria Sapozhnikova

The windy Russian autumn weather might be a little bit tricky for sailing, but it doesn’t stop brave yachtsmen from all over the world from flocking to Russian capital in the beginning of September when the Moscow Yacht Show commences. The main Russian Yacht exhibition gathers professional and amateur yacht lovers together under the wing of The Royal Yacht Club.

This year it took place for a fourth time already. The exhibition is considered the principal event on the sporting and social calendar. The Moscow Yacht Show 2010 united in one area three of the largest Russian yachts distributors: Ultramarine, Nordmarine and Premium Yachts.

A wide range of yachts were on display for a week. An exhibition showcased yachts both from Russian manufacturers and world famous brands: Azimut, Princess, Ferretti, Pershing, Riviera, Doral, Linssen, etc.

It was a real feast for seafarers as visitors of the show had a unique chance not only to take a look at the newest superyachts before they hit the market, but also to evaluate their driving advantages during the test drive. The show provided an excellent opportunity for yacht enthusiasts to choose and buy a new boat for the next season.

The event started with the grandiose gala evening. It included grand dinner, the concert and professional awards ceremony for achievements in Russian yachting industry. The guests also enjoyed the annual regatta.

Special guest Paolo Vitelli, Azimut Benetti Group president, opened the evening.

Next year organizers assured guests they would bring more yachts, the scale of which will even make oligarch Roman Abramovich envious. Sounds very promising indeed.

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