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Home , Britannia, HMY Britannia, Winston (horse)

HMY : The Queen's Royal Yacht The Royal Yacht Britannia served Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II from 1954 until 1997. The HMY stands for "His or Her Majesty's Yacht." According to InsideHook: "Original owner King George VI died in between the events of the Britannia’s commissioning and its construction. When the ship was ready to launch in April 1953, Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation was still two months away. In the Queen’s first toast to the new yacht, she announced, “I name this ship Britannia… I wish success to her and all who sail in her.” According to Military Wikia: 5,769 Tonnes /6,359 short tons Draught 15ft (4.6m) Propulsion Steam Turbine 12,000hp (8,900kW) Length 412 ft (126m) Capacity 250 guests Speed 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h) 24.7 mph maximum speed Beam 55ft (17m) Troops 1 platoon ‐ 21 officers ‐ 250 Royal Yachtsmen The yacht was a home‐away‐from‐home. Queen Elizabeth II's Rolls‐Royce Phantom V was part of the cargo to enable the Queen to drive her favorite car wherever she docked. HMY Britannia was in service for 44 years with 968 official voyages. "By the end of its run, the 83rd royal yacht in history had sailed a total of roughly 1.1 million miles." When on royal duties, the HMY Britannia was escorted by a warship. Since the decommissioning in 1997, the royal family commissioned a new yacht. It seems that it signaled an end of era of the mystic of the royal life. Sharing it with the world has provided a peek into that lifestyle. According to Town&Country: "The ship was (ordered by King George VI; he died February 4, 1952) built by John Brown & Co at the same shipyard in , (February 6, 1952) where famous liners Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary were constructed (launched April 1953). With 12,000 horsepower, the ship could travel at a maximum 22.5 knots, ideal for ocean‐going diplomacy. Prior to its launch, the royal family used ships from the Royal Navy or even passenger liners for the overseas portions of the royal tour." The design of the yacht was for functionality. A ship that could be converted into a seafaring hospital if needed. Though the ship was never used as such, it was involved in a rescue mission. It evacuated 1,000 European nationals from Aden during the South Yemen Civil War in 1986. The ship's steering wheel came from the yacht's namesake, the racing yacht HMY Britannia, built in 1893 for King Edward VII. The royal family oversaw its building in 1952 and downplayed the proposed lavish interior, given the country was recovering from World War II destruction. The accommodations, though "low‐keyed" were still "high‐class." Dignitaries such as Churchill, Noel Coward, Nelson Mandela and several U.S. Presidents were hosted aboard. The separate bedrooms and sitting rooms for Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of matched the accommodations in Buckingham Palace. Its history also includes being the place for a number of royal honeymoons (that all ended in divorce). The HMY Britannia had only four royal couples that chose to honeymoon aboard it. All ended in divorce. They were Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips (1960), Prince Charles and Princess (1981), Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong‐Jones (1973) and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson (1986). Is the honeymoon yacht cursed? According to Anglotopia for Anglophiles: "Should nuclear war have ever come to the , Britannia was to be a refuge and base of operations for Queen Elizabeth II. The plan, dubbed the “python system”, would have had the ship located on the northwest coast of Scotland in sea lochs with Her Majesty, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Home Secretary, while other cabinet officials would be scattered." "Prior to the 1997 general election and as the fate of Britannia was being debated, the Conservative Party announced that one of its campaign pledges would be to construct a new yacht. However, Tony Blair’s Labour party, which had not released any promise for the yacht’s future, won and opted to have it retired instead. Queen Elizabeth II has since chartered the MV Hebridian Princess, a private charter cruise ship, on two separate occasions for family trips around the Scottish islands." "Unlike most ships, Britannia was the only ship in the world where the captain was always an Admiral. The crew were volunteers from the Royal Navy, officers were appointed for a period of two years, while enlisted crew (known as “yachtsmen”) served for a period of 365 days, after which they could be admitted to “The Permanent Royal Yacht Service”." According to Advisor.Travel: "The Royal Yacht's last foreign mission was to convey the last , (now the The Lord Patten of Barnes) and the Prince of , away from Hong Kong after the handover of the British colony to the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997. Britannia was decommissioned on 11 December 1997." "There was some controversy over the siting of the ship, with some arguing that she would be better moored on the Clyde, where she was built, than in Edinburgh, to which the yacht had few links. However, her positioning in (a port to the north of the city of Edinburgh) coincided with a redevelopment of the harbour area, and the advent of Scottish Devolution." It is listed as part of the Core Collection. This photo program takes you throughout the yacht and shares its history at its mooring at Ocean Terminal in Leith, Scotland in a secure port. It is also moored next to a shopping mall and considered "Scotland's Best Visitor Attraction," according to VisitScotland). Watch for the Queen's favorite dog, the Corgi. Several stuffed animals were throughout the HMY Britannia.

When the Queen is onboard, the crew do not shout signals but use flags

The Royal Family and Queen Elizabeth

Relaxation room and guest bedroom, plus the bedroom used by four famous honeymoon couples Officer and Crew Quarters ‐ Ship Infrastructure

Transportation onboard

Sources: Tour with audio guides, https://www.visitscotland.com, https://www.insidehook.com/daily_brief/news‐opinion/history‐royal‐yacht‐britannia, https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a23456210/royal‐yacht‐britannia‐history/, http://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/thequeen/everything‐ you‐need‐to‐know‐about‐queen‐elizabeths‐yacht‐britannia‐68358, https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a23456210/royal‐yacht‐ britannia‐history/, https://military.wikia.org/wiki/HMY_Britannia, https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/cruises/british‐royal‐honeymoon‐proving‐cursed‐ 12379625, https://www.anglotopia.net/british‐history/ten‐interesting‐facts‐majestys‐yacht‐britannia/, https://must‐see‐scotland.com/britannia‐scotlands‐ best‐attraction/, https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2142395/five‐facts‐about‐corgis‐favourite‐dog‐britains‐queen‐elizabeth‐who‐bade, https://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/queen‐elizabeths‐corgis‐and‐other‐dog‐breeds‐the‐royal‐family‐loves‐most.html/ and https://en.advisor.travel/poi/HMY‐Britannia‐9564. acuri.net John R. Vincenti HMY Britannia: The Queen's Famous Yacht