Britannia rules the waves

NEIL GUNN STEPS ONBOARD THE ROYAL YACHT BRITANNIA, NOW OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AT THE EDINBURGH PORT OF LEITH

On a summer evening in 1997, as the torrential rain swept over the darkened harbour, the fireworks exploded and cascaded above the assembled dignitaries. Prince Charles in the final moments of British rule reminded the people of Hong Kong, “We shall not forget you … “

With the ceremony complete, Charles and the last governor of the colony Chris Patten boarded the royal yacht, leaving Hong Kong to its new masters. As Britannia slipped her moorings and headed slowly into the South China Sea, her royal passenger must have reflected that this too was nearly the end for an elderly lady who had given the royal family over 43 years of loyal service.

The yacht's life was like that of the great ocean liners, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth II, which began their lives on John Brown's shipyard on the Clyde. Plans to build a new yacht to replace the ageing Victoria and Albert III had first been considered in 1938 during the reign of King George VI, but in austere post-war Britain, it didn't seem appropriate.

In 1951, with the king's health failing, the government decided to push ahead with their plans. They felt that a new yacht might play some part in his recovery. But George VI died before the work was completed. Britannia was launched in 1953, and after sea trials, was commissioned for Royal Navy service the following year.

She was the latest in a line of royal yachts that stretches back to the 17th century, when the Dutch gave the world's first royal yacht, Mary, to Charles ...

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• By : Neil Gunn
• In : Destinations
• Issue : 9
• Page : 58
• Words : 1,041