ROYAL YACHT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 78, 3 April 1939, Page 4

ROYAL YACHT.

NEW ONE PLANNED. THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT. i i | FAMOUS SHIPS OF FAST. I _^___ (By Air Mail.) LONDON, March 5. One of the most interesting items in the Navy Estimates is the sum of j £80,000-odd provided for the beginning |of work on a new Royal Yacht to replace the Victoria and Albert, now 40 years old. The design of the new ship is not j sufficiently advanced for her total cost to be estimated; but by His Majesty's special wish she is to be built in such a way as to be adaptable for service as a hospital ship in the event of war. Royal yachts 7iave been in existence since 1060 and the reign of Charles II.: but the original Victoria and Albert, the first steam-driven vessel built for Queen Victoria, was launched at Pembroke in 1843. From the dock of this ship the future King Edward Vlf., as a boy of I nine, saw the yacht race round the Isle lof Wight, on August 22, 1851 (writes I Taffrail in the "Sunday Observer"). I The cup, presented on that occasion j by the Royal Yacht Squadron, was won by Commodore John C. Stevens, in the America, by a matter of IS minutes, and was carried off to the United States, to be presented as a challenge trophy to the New York Yacht Club. There, in spite of all British efforts, it still remains. However, the sight of that early race may well have given the future King his first taste for yachting. I The Last Journey. 1 During the later part of her reign Queen Victoria had throe yachts manned by naval personnel—the Victoria and Albert, the Osborne, and the Alberta, a smaller vessel used for the ferrv service between Portsmouth and Cowes when the Queen was in residence at Osborne. Her Majesty embarked in the Victoria and Albert on various ceremonial and other occasions, notably for the Jubilee and Diamond Jubilee Reviews of 1887 and 1897. On February 1, 1901. the little Alberta, bearing the late Queen's body, followed by the larger yacht 'carrying King Edward and other Royal mourners, passed between the lines of warships assembled in the Solent on her way to Portsmouth. Minute guns were being fired, and the ensigns of all ships were at half-mast. King Edward noticed that the Victoria and Albert's Royal Standard was also at half-mast, and asked the reason. "The Queen is dead, sir," the captain replied. ''The King lives." His Majesty answered. The Standard was fully hoisted. The present Victoria and Albert, the third of the name, was launched at Pembroke in 1809, and commissioned twp years later. She is still the largest yacht afloat—a steel, twin-screw ship of 4700 tons sheathed with teak and copper-bottomed. Her original apeed was about 20 knots, though nowadays it is no more than 15. Picked Crew. The officers and crew for the ship are most carefully chosen, the men being selected from volunteers, who must be qualified in character, service and pnysique. As a rule, |tHe; Qien remain in the yacht for the rest of their naval service, and in the extremely rare event of misconduct immediately revert to general service, or, if pensioners, are discharged to the shore. There are various privileges and d ; - tinctions in uniform. Certain of the officers receive accelerated promotion after their period of service, while King Edward VIT. ordered that the sublieutenants should wear gold laced trousers with their full dress and mess dress, instead of the plain blue trousers ordered 'by the The men have cap ribbons of black,'watered silk with the words '"'Royal Yacht" divided 'by the Royal crown in gold and red, while their badges are white, instead of the usual red and gold. Life on board differs from that in an ordinary ship. There are no shouted or spoken orders, most things being done in silence. Orders for weighing, anchoring, slipping from a buoy, going alongside, hoisting boats, and so forth, are given by gesture or signal. Pumps Instead of Boots. When summoned by any officer, men must not break into a double as in any other ship, but come forward at a walk. When Royalty is on' board the ship's company wear pumps instead of boots or shoes, and work bareheaded abaft a certain point on deck. Rubber-soled shoes are worn at night. Noise is reduced to an absolute minimum. Apart from the matter of prestige, the Royal Yacht serves a very definite purpose in carrying Their Majesties on State visits to different parts of the United Kingdom where water transport is necessary or desirable. She also brings the King, as head of the Royal Navy, -into personal contact with the Fleet, and the officers and men who man it. This link between the Royal House and the Navy is further strengthened by the fact that those lucky enough to be serving on board , the Victoria and Albert may be likened to a naval equivalent of the Household Troops.