BRITANNIA - QUEEN LOBBIED FOR NEW ROYAL YACHT

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Britannia sailed on her maiden voyage from Portsmouth to Grand Harbour, Malta, departing on 14 April and arriving on 22 April 1954. Britannia was decommissioned on 11 December 1997. Britannia was designed to be converted into a hospital ship in time of war, although this capability was never used. In the event of nuclear war, it was intended for the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh to take refuge aboard Britannia off the north-west coast of Scotland.

GUERNSEY PRESS - December 29 2018 - Queen lobbied for replacement Royal Yacht Britannia, archive files show - Buckingham Palace officials were worried about the representations to Whitehall being made public.

The Queen’s desires for a Royal Yacht Britannia replacement were made known to government, official files show.

The monarch was said to “naturally very much welcome” a new vessel for the 21st century after it was announced the floating Royal residence would be decommissioned.

Buckingham Palace officials were worried about the representations to Whitehall being made public, according the letter from the Queen’s deputy private secretary Sir Kenneth Scott.

The note, dated May 5 1995, came around a year after John Major’s government announced the yacht would be decommissioned but before it finally ended service in 1997.

Addressed to civil servant Richard Williams, who was attached to the Cabinet Office, the message from Sir Kenneth reads: “I have deliberately taken a back seat in recent correspondence, since the question of whether there should be a replacement yacht is very much one for the Government and since the last thing I should like to see is a newspaper headline saying ‘Queen Demands New Yacht’.

“At the same time, I hope it is clear to all concerned that this reticence on the part of the Palace in no way implies that Her Majesty is not deeply interested in the subject; on the contrary, The Queen would naturally very much welcome it if a way could be found of making available for the nation in the 21st Century the kind of service which BRITANNIA has provided for the last 43 years.”

Professor Murphy, who studies British and Commonwealth history, said: “It’s saying ‘we don’t want to appear to be lobbying you but the Queen hopes you can sort something out’.

“The Palace were keen to keep the issue alive.”

The Royal Yacht Britannia was in service from 1954 to 1997, travelling more than a million nautical miles.

In an uncommon display of public emotion, the Queen was pictured wiping away tears when the vessel was finally decommissioned.

It is now is now berthed in Edinburgh and visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists each year.

The note also shows Prince Philip wanted Britannia dismantled and the fittings installed in a new vessel.

It reads: “The Duke of Edinburgh, who takes a close interest and has given the matter a good deal of thought, has come to the conclusion that, however attractive the other options, the best solution for BRITANNIA herself after decommissioning is for her to be broken up.

“The arguments for this would of course be strengthened if it were decided to build a replacement yacht which could incorporate much of BRITANNIA’S fittings.”

The most recent attempt to revive the idea of a replacement came in 2017, when 50 MPs suggested launching a new national lottery to help raise £120 million for the project.

They argued the UK “needs and deserves a floating royal palace” in the post-Brexit era to host meetings and exhibitions showcasing British business and humanitarian work.

HMY Britannia was built at the shipyard of John Brown & Co. Ltd in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire. She was launched by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 April 1953, and commissioned on 11 January 1954. The ship was designed with three masts: a 133-foot (41 m) foremast, a 139-foot (42 m) mainmast, and a 118-foot (36 m) mizzenmast. The top aerial on the foremast and the top 20 feet (6.1 m) of the mainmast were hinged to allow the ship to pass under bridges.

A reminder of bygone age with steam turbines burning heavy fuel oil like there was no tomorrow. Britannia steamed over a million nautical miles, belching out black soot as she plied the ocean waves. Of course, nobody knew about global warming and climate change in those days. In a modern Britain (Feb 2019) Chris Grayling has published Maritime 2050, a road map for cleaner ships and more efficient docks to help us build a sustainable society and a circular economy.

THE OFFICE - Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia, also known as the Royal Yacht Britannia, is the former royal yacht of the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, in service from 1954 until 1997. She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the throne in 1660, and is the second royal yacht to bear the name, the first being the racing cutter built for the Prince of Wales in 1893. During her 43-year career, the yacht travelled more than a million nautical miles around the globe. Now retired from royal service, Britannia is permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal, Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a popular visitor attraction with over 300,000 visits each year

REST TIME - This was the Queen's bedroom. Prince Philip has his own room, not unusual with older couples, some of whom snore and wake up at odd hours.

LINKS & REFERENCE

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/national/17325818.queen-lobbied-for-replacement-royal-yacht-britannia-archive-files-show/

https://www.secret-bases.co.uk/wiki/Royal_Yacht_Britannia

https://www.channel24.co.za/Gossip/Royal-News/newly-discovered-note-reveals-the-one-big-purchase-queen-elizabeth-ii-asked-for-20181230

https://guernseypress.com/news/uk-news/2018/12/29/queen-lobbied-for-replacement-royal-yacht-britannia-archive-files-show/

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