Royal Yacht Britannia
Discussion
Not very well. It's not exactly modern luxury, it certainly was not fuel efficient, wasn't all that big, and cost a fortune in upkeep - probably because it needed an extensive crew compared with more modern ships.
Have seen modern "yachts" parked beside it at its berth in Edinburgh and seen some of these "runabout" modern yachts in Turkey. Britannia doesn't get a look in!
Have seen modern "yachts" parked beside it at its berth in Edinburgh and seen some of these "runabout" modern yachts in Turkey. Britannia doesn't get a look in!
DieselGriff said:
Whilst being somewhat ignorant of the technical differences I have to say that if I was in the market for a luxury yacht I would be more inclined towards something in the style of Britannia than some of the modern ones.
They are from a different era. I would prefer to go old fashioned, but having seen inside some of these fancy b
d yachts in Dubai, you can see why they would go for a modern one. FourWheelDrift said:
Beat that Abramovitch.
Thats what I thought when I was watching earlier, the RYB is the ultimate yacht!
Would've been great to see it on the Thames, however from the commentary it wouldn't have been appropriate, HM The Queen was devastated when it was decommisioned. Its launch was used today though, to take the royal party from Cadogan Pier to the Spirit Of Chartwell.
I like the look of her predecessor too, HMY Victoria & Albert III - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMY_Victoria_and_Albe...
HMDY Dannebrog is nice too, still used - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMS_Dannebrog_%28A54...
The Egyptian El Horria is the one I would like to see, built in 1865 and still goes to sea. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Horria
HMDY Dannebrog is nice too, still used - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMS_Dannebrog_%28A54...
The Egyptian El Horria is the one I would like to see, built in 1865 and still goes to sea. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Horria
Britannia extremely spartan by today's standards. Would perform poorly in the charter market, if that provides any comparison.
FYI... http://www.jubileeyacht.org.uk/
FYI... http://www.jubileeyacht.org.uk/
Whilst I know that as she stands she's no comparison to today's new launches, but even if instructing a new build I think I would go more for this style than the contemporaries, but in some ways I feel that way about cars. I seem to be a few years behind current designs, I think A will grow on me and I might like it in 20 years time. 
FourWheelDrift said:
Convert HMS Ark Royal to a Royal Yacht, plenty of space for a battalion or 2 of Royal Marines for "goodwill visits" and William has somewhere to land his chopper.
Then who'll have the biggest yacht Abramovitch?
(Superyacht) Project Azzam by Lürssen, at 180m, will be only 30m short of Ark Royal...Then who'll have the biggest yacht Abramovitch?
zetec said:
Thats what I thought when I was watching earlier, the RYB is the ultimate yacht!
Would've been great to see it on the Thames, however from the commentary it wouldn't have been appropriate, HM The Queen was devastated when it was decommisioned. Its launch was used today though, to take the royal party from Cadogan Pier to the Spirit Of Chartwell.
When we were tied up alongside in Malta, on Leander, Britannia was also there so that we were stern to stern. It was rather nice sitting on the aftdeck having a mug of coffee while the Marines had band practice 5 yards away. At sundown we had to do the ensigns together to music, quite moving really.
We were invited onboard by the Admiral for drinkiepoos in the mess. On the tour around, the interior was very 1950's, a bit like visiting your Nan's house, all very summerhouse homely. Some of the objects on display were jawdropping though, one really caught my eye. Capt. Scott's teacaddy with a letter inside.
Dated was the word that sprang to mind about the bridge and engineroom. The helm was below decks and no forward viz, all commands came from telegraph. The engineroom was all copper pipes polished to the hilt but SO old.
As it was used for family holidays, there were fun little things that went on between them and the crew. One was a little wooden monkey with a long curly tail. Each morning the cheeky thing had moved around in the night. All the kids had to go hunting for him (most likely to blame was the D.of.E but no one ever said).
She was originally envisioned with a squarerig foremast, that soon changed. I grew-up looking at a picture of her each day at school as one of our oldboys, Sir Hugh Casson, had designed the interior.
Nice family yacht also used for work too. She deserved a more dignified retirement than to be stuck in a dock in Scotland(the yacht, not the Queen).
We were invited onboard by the Admiral for drinkiepoos in the mess. On the tour around, the interior was very 1950's, a bit like visiting your Nan's house, all very summerhouse homely. Some of the objects on display were jawdropping though, one really caught my eye. Capt. Scott's teacaddy with a letter inside.
Dated was the word that sprang to mind about the bridge and engineroom. The helm was below decks and no forward viz, all commands came from telegraph. The engineroom was all copper pipes polished to the hilt but SO old.
As it was used for family holidays, there were fun little things that went on between them and the crew. One was a little wooden monkey with a long curly tail. Each morning the cheeky thing had moved around in the night. All the kids had to go hunting for him (most likely to blame was the D.of.E but no one ever said).
She was originally envisioned with a squarerig foremast, that soon changed. I grew-up looking at a picture of her each day at school as one of our oldboys, Sir Hugh Casson, had designed the interior.
Nice family yacht also used for work too. She deserved a more dignified retirement than to be stuck in a dock in Scotland(the yacht, not the Queen).
Wasn't her design based on a cross-channel (passenger) ferry?
Don't think HMQ would be too impressed with a ro-ro today though
While the Britannia was probably past her trade-in date I do feel that a royal yacht brings benefits to this Country which are invisible to the bean counters. Certainly better value than an equivalent to Air Force One.
Don't think HMQ would be too impressed with a ro-ro today though
While the Britannia was probably past her trade-in date I do feel that a royal yacht brings benefits to this Country which are invisible to the bean counters. Certainly better value than an equivalent to Air Force One.
Fishtigua said:
When we were tied up alongside in Malta, on Leander, Britannia was also there so that we were stern to stern. It was rather nice sitting on the aftdeck having a mug of coffee while the Marines had band practice 5 yards away. At sundown we had to do the ensigns together to music, quite moving really.
We were invited onboard by the Admiral for drinkiepoos in the mess. On the tour around, the interior was very 1950's, a bit like visiting your Nan's house, all very summerhouse homely. Some of the objects on display were jawdropping though, one really caught my eye. Capt. Scott's teacaddy with a letter inside.
Dated was the word that sprang to mind about the bridge and engineroom. The helm was below decks and no forward viz, all commands came from telegraph. The engineroom was all copper pipes polished to the hilt but SO old.
As it was used for family holidays, there were fun little things that went on between them and the crew. One was a little wooden monkey with a long curly tail. Each morning the cheeky thing had moved around in the night. All the kids had to go hunting for him (most likely to blame was the D.of.E but no one ever said).
She was originally envisioned with a squarerig foremast, that soon changed. I grew-up looking at a picture of her each day at school as one of our oldboys, Sir Hugh Casson, had designed the interior.
Nice family yacht also used for work too. She deserved a more dignified retirement than to be stuck in a dock in Scotland(the yacht, not the Queen).
An enjoyable post. We were invited onboard by the Admiral for drinkiepoos in the mess. On the tour around, the interior was very 1950's, a bit like visiting your Nan's house, all very summerhouse homely. Some of the objects on display were jawdropping though, one really caught my eye. Capt. Scott's teacaddy with a letter inside.
Dated was the word that sprang to mind about the bridge and engineroom. The helm was below decks and no forward viz, all commands came from telegraph. The engineroom was all copper pipes polished to the hilt but SO old.
As it was used for family holidays, there were fun little things that went on between them and the crew. One was a little wooden monkey with a long curly tail. Each morning the cheeky thing had moved around in the night. All the kids had to go hunting for him (most likely to blame was the D.of.E but no one ever said).
She was originally envisioned with a squarerig foremast, that soon changed. I grew-up looking at a picture of her each day at school as one of our oldboys, Sir Hugh Casson, had designed the interior.
Nice family yacht also used for work too. She deserved a more dignified retirement than to be stuck in a dock in Scotland(the yacht, not the Queen).
Thanks
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