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Royal yacht

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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 manned by personnel from the navy and used by the monarch and his/her family on both private and official travels.

Types of vessels used

Some royal yachts have been/are small vessels only used for short trips on rivers or in calm waters, but others have been/are large seaworthy ships.

History

Depending on how the term is defined royal yachts date back to the days of antiquity with royal barges on the Nile in ancient Egypt.

Later the Vikings produced royal vessels. They followed the pattern of longships although highly decorated and fitted with purple sails (purple sails remained standard for royal vessels the next 400 years).[1]

In England, Henry V sold off the Royal Yachts to clear the Crown's debts. The next royal vessels in England were built in the Tudor period with Henry VIII using a vessel in 1520 that was depicted as having cloth of gold sails.[2] James I had the disdain a ship in miniature (she was later recorded as being able to carry about 30 tons) built for his son Prince Henry. The disdain was significant in that she allowed for pleasure cruising and as a result can be seen as an early move away from Royal ships as warships.

The first ships to unquestionably qualify as royal yachts were those owned by Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland.[citation needed] The first was gift from the Dutch but later yachts were commissioned and built in England. This established a tradition of royal yachts in Britain that was later copied by other royal families of Europe. Through the 19th century royal yachts got larger as they became a symbol of national wealth. World War I brought this trend to an end and the royal families that survived found it harder to justify the cost with the result that there are only two royal yachts left in use in Europe. For the most part royal yachts have been superseded by the use of warships in this role, as royal yachts are often seen as a hard-to-justify expenditure. In addition most monarchies with a railway system employ a special set of royal carriages. Most monarchies also employ aircraft as a luxurious (and much more speedy and timely) mode of transportation.

Yachts by country

Denmark

The Danish royal family have had several royal yachts. Two of them have been named Dannebrog.

Dubai

Dubai is the personal yacht of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. Completed in 2006, she is the second largest yacht currently in service [3] at 524 feet (162 metres) long. She came to world media attention when she sailed out to welcome the retired ocean liner, RMS Queen Elizabeth II to Dubai in November 2008.

Ottoman Empire/Republic of Turkey

The Imperial Ottoman Government and the Republic of Turkey has used many yachts for its Head of State.[4] These include:

  • The Imperial Yacht, Tesrifiye
  • The Imperial Yacht, İzzeddin
  • The Imperial Yacht, Sultaniye
  • The Imperial Yacht, Talia
  • The Imperial Yacht, Ertuğrul
  • Presidential Yacht Savarona – The current Turkish Presidential Yacht; privately leased while her replacement (below) is in development
  • New Presidential Yacht – The Turkish Government has currently commissioned a new 50 m yacht for the personal use of the President and visiting Heads of State. Details of this new yacht first surfaced in September, 2008.[5] The yacht is being built at the Istanbul Naval Yard, Pendik, Istanbul and is reported to have a ballistic hull, surface-to-air missiles and high-tech equipment.

Egypt

  • Mahroussa a.k.a. El Horria (1866–1951) – Built for Isma'il Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt. She passed the Suez Canal during its opening. Lengthened twice, converted from paddle steamer to screws. Now serves as a school ship for the Egyptian Navy.

Germany

During the existence of the German Empire,the Emporer (Kaiser) used these Imperial Yachts:

Kingdom of Hawaii

Cleopatra's Barge

Netherlands

Norway

King Haakon VII received the Royal Yacht Norge as a gift from the people of Norway in 1947. The Royal Yacht is owned by the King but maintained and manned by the Royal Norwegian Navy. Before this other Navy ships had served as royal sea transport and the King used some smaller boats for short trips mostly on official occasions.

Oman

Name Length (m) Shipyard Year Description
Al Said 155[7] Lürssen 2007 Has a helipad, orchestra and swimming pool. It is berthed in Mutrah port most of the time.
Fulk al Salamah[8] 136 Lürssen 1982 It has participated in Ship for World Youth.[9]
Loaloat Al Behar 103.85 Picchiotti Italy 1982 Largest yacht built in Italy in the 1980s.
Zinat al Bihaar 61 Oman Royal Yacht Squadron[10] 1988 Luxury sailing yacht built in Oman with imported engine from Siemens.
Al-Noores 33.5[11] K. Damen Netherlands 1982 Specialized tug boat for the other royal yachts.

Portugal

  • Veloz (22,6 m): 1858
  • Sirius (22,5 m): 1876
  • Amélia I (35 m): 1888;
  • Amélia II (45 m): 1897;
  • Amélia III (55 m): 1898;
  • Amélia IV (70 m): 1901.

The Portuguese King Charles I used four successive royal yachts, all named Amélia, after his wife, Queen Amélie of Orleans. These yachts were, mainly, used by Charles I his oceanographic missions. It was in the Amélia IV that King Manuel II and the Portuguese Royal Family left the country for the exile, after the republican revolution of 5 October 1910. In the republican regime the Amélia IV was renamed NRP 5 de Outubro and operated by the Portuguese Navy.

Russia

Yachts employed by the Tsar of Russia:

[13]

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Royal Yachts have included the following:

United Kingdom

A painting of HMY Victoria and Albert II also used as the basis for El Horria
Main article: List of Royal Yachts of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has had 83 royal yachts since the restoration of King Charles II in 1660. Charles II himself had 25 royal yachts, while five were simultaneously in service in 1831. Since the decommissioning of Britannia in 1997 the Queen no longer has a royal yacht.

Other Nations

Other nations that employ some form of yacht presently or in the past include China, Iran, and Sweden.

Zanzibar had only one naval ship in 1896, the royal yacht HHS Glasgow. It was sunk by the British during the shortest war in history, the Anglo-Zanzibar War.

The United States in the past employed presidential yachts which functioned identically, serving the American President. Most notably was the USS Potomac (1936–1945) and the USS Williamsburg (1945–53). The most recent presidential yacht was the USS Sequoia (1933–77). Earlier vessels included the USS Mayflower (1906–29), damaged by fire during the Great Depression.

In Finland the president has a small private yacht.[14]

The Principality of Monaco owned the royal yacht Deo Juvante II between 1956-1958. The Camper and Nicholsons yacht was a wedding gift from Aristotle Onassis to Prince Rainer and Grace Kelly and was used on their honeymoon. The yacht, now called the M/Y Grace, is now owned and operated by Quasar Expeditions.

Italy had a royal yacht called Trinacia, the ex America.

See also

Sources

  • Article in Vi Menn magazine number 31 2006
  1. ^ Madge, Tim (1997). "2". Royal Yachts of the world. Thomas Reed Publications. p. 21. ISBN 0 901281 74 3.
  2. ^ Madge, Tim (1997). "2". Royal Yachts of the world. Thomas Reed Publications. p. 25. ISBN 0 901281 74 3.
  3. ^ Matt Spector (6 August 2008) "World's Elite Make a Splash With Megayachts", ABC News
  4. ^ U.S. Library of Congress Query
  5. ^ Çankaya için lüks yat! (Turkish)
  6. ^ Paul Forsythe Johnston (Winter 2002). "A Million Pounds of Sandalwood: The History of Cleopatra's Barge in Hawaii" (PDF). The American Neptune. Vol. 63, no. 1. pp. 5–45.
  7. ^ http://www.yachtspotter.com/ysp2_ycard_sy.php
  8. ^ http://inequalityreduced.blogspot.com/2009/01/very-extravagant.html
  9. ^ http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199106/central.and.south.asia.htm
  10. ^ http://www.superyachttimes.info/yachts/details/2117
  11. ^ http://www.superyachttimes.com/yachts/details/2010/
  12. ^ By Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia on her maiden voyage from Brest to Ferrol, Spain and by Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia as a passenger on the Black Sea.
  13. ^ A private web page dedicated to the Standart
  14. ^ "Story about the boat (In Finnish)".
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