List of royal yachts of the United Kingdom

This is a list of royal yachts of the United Kingdom. There have been 84 royal yachts since the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. King Charles II had 25 royal yachts and five were simultaneously in service in 1831. Occasionally merchantmen or warships have been chartered or assigned for special duty as a temporary royal yacht, for example the steamship Ophir in 1901 and the battleship HMS Vanguard in 1947. In 1997 HMY Britannia was decommissioned and not replaced. There are currently no British royal yachts, although MV Hebridean Princess has been used by the Royal Family.^[1]

Ships

• Mary (1660–75)
• Royal Escape
• Anne (1661-?)
• Bezan (1661-?)
• Katherine (1661 - ?) Built by Phineas Pett
• Charles (1662-?)
• Jamie
• Henrietta
• Merlin* (1666-?)
• Monmouth (1666-?)
• Navy (1666-?)
• Saudadoes (1670-?)
• Cleveland (1671-?)
• Queenborough (1671-?)
• Deale (1673-?)
• Isle of Wight (1673-?)
• Kitchen (1674-?)
• Katherine (1674-?)
• Portsmouth (1674-?)
• Charles (1675-?)
• Charlot (1677-?)
• Mary (1677-?)
• Henrietta (1679-?)
• Izabella Bezan (1680-?)
• Fubbs (1682-?)
• Isabella (1680-?)
• William & Mary (1694-?)
• Squirrel (1695-?)
• Scout (1695-?)
• Queenborough (1701-?)
• Soeesdyke (1702-?)
• Portsmouth (1702-?)
• Isabella (1703-?)
• Drake (1705-?)
• Dublin (1709-?)
• Bolton (1709-?)
• Charlot (1710-?)
• Carolina (1710-?)
• Chatham (1710-?)
• Chatham (1741-?)
• Portsmouth (1742-?)
• Royal Caroline (renamed Royal Charlotte in 1761), 1749 - ?
• Dorset (1753-?)
• Plymouth (1755-?)
• Augusta (1771-?)
• Portsmouth (1794-?)
• Plymouth (1796-?)
• Royal Sovereign (1804-?)
• William & Mary (1807-?)
• Royal George (1817–42)
• Prince Regent (1820-?)
• Royal Charlotte (1824-?)
• Royal Adelaide (1833-?)
• Victoria and Albert (1843–55) - Remained in-service as Osborne (1855–67)
• Fairy (1845–63) (tender to Victoria and Albert)
• Elfin (1848–1901)
• Victoria and Albert (ii) (1855–1900)
• Alberta (1863–1913) (tender to Victoria and Albert (ii))
• Osborne (1870–1908) (tender to Victoria and Albert (ii))
• Victoria and Albert (iii) (1901–37)
• SS Ophir* (1901) - Chartered steamship for the royal tour of the colonies
• Alexandra (1908–25)
• RMS Medina (1911–12) - Chartered P&O steamship for the royal visit to India
• Britannia (royal cutter yacht)* (1893–1936)
• RMS Empress of Britain (1931–40)
• RMS Empress of Australia* (1939)^[2]
• HMS Renown (1916) Used in 1920 for the Prince of Wales Empire tour and in 1927 by the Duke and Duchess of York to visit Australia
• HMS Vanguard* (1947) Battleship used to take George VI and family to South Africa
• Gothic* (1952–54)
• Britannia (1954–97)
• MV Hebridean Princess* (chartered 2006 & 2010)

* Not HMY

Notes

1. Witchell, Nicholas (2010-07-23). "Queen heads off on Hebridean adventure". BBC News.
2. 40-year-old Ship Makes Last Trip; Empress of Australia, Luxury Liner and Troop Carrier, on Way to Scrap Heap," New York Times. 1 May 1952.

References

• Madge, Tim (1997). Royal Yachts of the World. Thomas Reed Publications. pp. 182–3. ISBN 0-901281-74-3.
• Fenwick, Valerie and Gale, Alison (1998), Historic Shipwrecks, Discovered, Protected and Investigated,pp112-113 Tempus Publishing Limited, ISBN 0-7524-1473-9. Describes the Mary and mentions Katherine and Phineas Pett.

External links

• Royal Marines Bands - mention of Ophir
• New York Times archive The end of the Royal Tour of 1901
• New York Times archive Ordering the new yacht in 1897
• Hampshire and Dorset shipwrecks Collision of HMY Albee with the Mistletoe
• New York Times archive Review of the Fleet 1897
• The list of Navy vessels for December 1695 (House of Commons Journal)
• The £1.4-million yacht Hebridian Princess This yacht was chartered by the Queen for her 80th Birthday. Formerly the MacBrayne ferry Columba built in 1964; converted to a miniature cruise ship for just 49 passengers in 1989.
• The £50-million Motor Yacht Leander Chartered by Prince of Wales for visit to Caribbean in March 2008. Chartered yacht instead of jet was to demonstrate his concern for the environment.