HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht)
Encyclopedia
His Majesty's Yacht Britannia was a gaff-rigged cutter built in 1893 for Commodore Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. She served him and his son, King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
, a long racing career.
Racing career
After the Prince of Wales' nephew Kaiser Wilhelm II acquired the racing cutter ThistleThistle (yacht)
Thistle was the unsuccessful Scottish challenger of the seventh America's Cup in 1887 against American defender Volunteer.-Design:The cutter Thistle was designed by George Lennox Watson, with interiors by his brother Thomas Lennox Watson, and built at the D&W Henderson shipyard in Partick on the...
in 1891, her Scottish designer George Lennox Watson
George Lennox Watson
George Lennox Watson was a Scottish naval architect. He was born in Glasgow, son of Thomas Lennox Watson, a doctor at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and grandson of Sir Timothy Burstall, engineer and entrant at the 1829 Rainhill Trials.-Early life:...
received a commission from Prince Albert Edward for a sailing yacht in 1892. He designed His Royal Highness' Yacht Britannia to the "Length And Sail Area Rule" as a First Class cutter and had her built alongside his America's Cup
America's Cup
The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...
challenger Valkyrie II at the D&W Henderson shipyard on the River Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
. She was launched on April 20, 1893, a week ahead of Valkyrie II.
By the end of her first year's racing, the Britannia had scored thirty-three wins from forty-three starts. In her second season, she won all seven races for the big class yachts on the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
, and then beat the 1893 America's Cup defender Vigilant
Vigilant (yacht)
Vigilant was the victorious United States defender of the eighth America's Cup in 1893 against British challenger Valkyrie II. Vigilant was designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff and built in 1893 by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Rhode Island...
in home waters.
Despite a lull in big yacht racing after 1897, the Britannia served as a trial horse for Sir Thomas Lipton's challenger Shamrock I
Shamrock (yacht)
Shamrock was the unsuccessful Irish challenger for the 10th America's Cup in 1899 against the United States defender, Columbia.-Design:Shamrock was designed by third-generation Scottish boatbuilder, William Fife III, Jr., and built in 1898 by J...
, and later passed on to several owners in a cruising trim with raised bulwarks. In 1920, King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
triggered the revival of the "Big Class" by announcing that he would refit the Britannia for racing. Although the Britannia was the oldest yacht in the circuit, regular updates to her rig kept her a most successful racer throughout the 1920s. In 1931, she was converted to the J-Class
J-class yacht
The J-Class serves as a rating for large sailing yachts designed between 1930 and 1937. Reserved for a wealthy elite of yachtsmen, these boats were used to compete with the best sailing talents in three races of the America's Cup.-The 1930s:...
with a bermuda rig
Bermuda rig
The term Bermuda rig refers to a configuration of mast and rigging for a type of sailboat and is also known as a Marconi rig; this is the typical configuration for most modern sailboats...
, but despite the improvements, her performance to windward
Points of sail
Points of sail describes a sailing boat's course in relation to the wind direction.There is a distinction between the port tack and the starboard tack. If the wind is coming from anywhere on the port side, the boat is on port tack. Likewise if the wind is coming from the starboard side, the boat...
slopped dramatically. Her last race was at Cowes
Cowes
Cowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank...
in 1935. During her racing career she had won 231 races and took another 129 flags.
King George V's dying wish was for his beloved yacht to follow him to the grave. On 10 July 1936, after the Britannia had been stripped of her spars
SPARS
SPARS was the United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve, created 23 November 1942 with the signing of Public Law 773 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The name is a contraction of the Coast Guard motto: Semper Paratus and its English translation Always Ready...
and fittings, her hull was towed out to St Catherines Deep near the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, and she was sunk by HMS Winchester (L55)
V and W class destroyer
The V and W class was an amalgam of six similar classes of destroyer built for the Royal Navy under the War Emergency Programme of the First World War and generally treated as one class...
, commanded by Captain W.N.T. Beckett RN. This fate marked the end of big yacht racing in Europe, with the smaller and more affordable International Rule 12-Metre Class
12-metre class
The 12 Metre Class is a rating class for racing boats designed to the International rule. It enables fair competition between boats that rate in the class whilst retaining the freedom to experiment with the details of their designs. The first 12 Metres were built in 1907. The 12 Metre Class was...
gaining popularity.
A new replica of the Britannia was built Russia in from 1993 to 2009, and after legal problems in securing her release from her Russian shipyard, she was shipped to Norway and subsequently sold to a foundation in Cowes that will finish and rig the yacht.
Predecessors and Opponents
The Britanna was the last of the British royal racing yachts. Previously Prince Albert Edward had acquired the 205-ton schooner Hildegarde in 1876, which he had replaced with the 103-ton cutter Formosa (Michael E. Ratsey, 1878) in 1879, and the 216-ton schooner Aline (Benjamin Nicholson, 1860) in 1881. From 1962 to 1969, the British Royal family also owned the ocean racing yawl Bloodhound (Charles E. Nicholson, 1936).The Britannia faced many opponents in her 43-year career. The most notable were:
- MeteorThistle (yacht)Thistle was the unsuccessful Scottish challenger of the seventh America's Cup in 1887 against American defender Volunteer.-Design:The cutter Thistle was designed by George Lennox Watson, with interiors by his brother Thomas Lennox Watson, and built at the D&W Henderson shipyard in Partick on the...
, Valkyrie IIValkyrie II (yacht)Valkyrie II was the unsuccessful British challenger of the eighth America's Cup race in 1893 against American defender "Vigilant".-Design:Valkyrie II was a gaff-rigged cutter...
and Valkyrie IIIValkyrie III (yacht)"Valkyrie III" was the unsuccessful British challenger of the ninth America's Cup race in 1895 against American defender "Defender".-Design:"Valkyrie III," a keel cutter, was designed by George Lennox Watson and built at the D&W Henderson on the River Clyde in 1893 for a syndicate of owners...
(America's CupAmerica's CupThe America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...
challengers by George Lennox WatsonGeorge Lennox WatsonGeorge Lennox Watson was a Scottish naval architect. He was born in Glasgow, son of Thomas Lennox Watson, a doctor at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and grandson of Sir Timothy Burstall, engineer and entrant at the 1829 Rainhill Trials.-Early life:...
, 1887, 1893 and 1895) - Navahoe and VigilantVigilant (yacht)Vigilant was the victorious United States defender of the eighth America's Cup in 1893 against British challenger Valkyrie II. Vigilant was designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff and built in 1893 by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Rhode Island...
(Seawanhaka 85' yankee sloops by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, 1893) - Satanita ("Length And Sail Area Rule" First Class cutter by Joseph Manston Soper, 1893)
- Calluna and Ailsa ("Length And Sail Area Rule" First Class cutters by William Fife III, 1893 and 1894)
- Meteor II ("Linear Rule" First Class cutter by George Lennox Watson, 1896)
- Shamrock IShamrock (yacht)Shamrock was the unsuccessful Irish challenger for the 10th America's Cup in 1899 against the United States defender, Columbia.-Design:Shamrock was designed by third-generation Scottish boatbuilder, William Fife III, Jr., and built in 1898 by J...
(America's Cup Seawanhaka 90' challenger by William Fife III, 1899) - Merrymaid ("Big Class" handicap cruising cutter, Charles Ernest NicholsonCharles Ernest Nicholson-Biography:He was born in 1868.Nicholson's first design of note was the Redwing class. The Bembridge sailing club met in October 1896 to agree the need for a shallow draughted yacht - to allow for the shoal waters of Bembridge Harbour - which could be sailed single-handed, to replace the expensive...
, 1904, still sailing) - Zinita ("Big Class" Second Linear Rule 65' cutter by William Fife III, 1904)
- Nyria ("Big Class" bermuda cutter by Charles Ernest NicholsonCharles Ernest Nicholson-Biography:He was born in 1868.Nicholson's first design of note was the Redwing class. The Bembridge sailing club met in October 1896 to agree the need for a shallow draughted yacht - to allow for the shoal waters of Bembridge Harbour - which could be sailed single-handed, to replace the expensive...
, 1905) - Brynhild II ("International Rule" 23mR cutter by Charles Ernest NicholsonCharles Ernest Nicholson-Biography:He was born in 1868.Nicholson's first design of note was the Redwing class. The Bembridge sailing club met in October 1896 to agree the need for a shallow draughted yacht - to allow for the shoal waters of Bembridge Harbour - which could be sailed single-handed, to replace the expensive...
, 1907) - White Heather II and Shamrock ("International Rule" 23mR cutters by William Fife III, 1907 and 1908)
- Westward (A-Class schooner by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, 1910)
- LulworthLulworth (yacht)Lulworth is a gaff-rigged cutter that was built in Southampton, England in 1920.-The Big Class:The boat's name comes from Lulworth Castle, which belonged to her second owner, Herbert Weld, whose grandfather was a charter-member of the Royal Yacht Squadron. S/Y Lulworth was built by the White...
("Big Class" cutter by Herbert William White, 1920, still sailing) - Moonbeam IV ("Big Class" handicap cruising cutter by William Fife III, 1920, still sailing)
- Astra and Candida ("Second International Rule" 23mR bermuda cutters by Charles Ernest NicholsonCharles Ernest Nicholson-Biography:He was born in 1868.Nicholson's first design of note was the Redwing class. The Bembridge sailing club met in October 1896 to agree the need for a shallow draughted yacht - to allow for the shoal waters of Bembridge Harbour - which could be sailed single-handed, to replace the expensive...
, 1928 and 1929, both still sailing) - Cambria ("Second International Rule" 23mR bermuda cutter by William Fife III, 1928, still sailing)
- Shamrock V, VelshedaVelsheda (yacht)The J-class yacht Velsheda was designed by Charles Ernest Nicholson and built in 1933 by Camper and Nicholsons at Gosport, Hampshire. She was built for businessman William Lawrence Stephenson and named after his three daughters, Velma, Sheila and Daphne...
and Endeavour IEndeavour (Yacht)Endeavour is a J-class yacht built for the 1934 America's Cup by Camper and Nicholson in Gosport, Portsmouth Harbour, England. She was built for Thomas Sopwith who used his aviation design expertise to ensure the yacht was the most advanced of its day with a steel hull and mast...
("Universal RuleUniversal RuleThe Universal Rule determined a yachts eligibility to race in the America's Cup from 1914 to 1937. Ships built according to the rule reached their peak in the large J-class yachts....
" J-ClassJ-class yachtThe J-Class serves as a rating for large sailing yachts designed between 1930 and 1937. Reserved for a wealthy elite of yachtsmen, these boats were used to compete with the best sailing talents in three races of the America's Cup.-The 1930s:...
cutters by Charles Ernest NicholsonCharles Ernest Nicholson-Biography:He was born in 1868.Nicholson's first design of note was the Redwing class. The Bembridge sailing club met in October 1896 to agree the need for a shallow draughted yacht - to allow for the shoal waters of Bembridge Harbour - which could be sailed single-handed, to replace the expensive...
, 1930, 1933 and 1934, all still sailing) - Yankee ("Universal Rule" J-Class sloop by Frank Cabot Paine, 1930)