List of Royal Yachts of the United Kingdom

Ships of the Royal Navy

A – B – C – D – E – F – G H – I – J – K – L – M – N O – P – Q – R – S – T – U V – W – X – Y – Z

fleet aircraft carriers

escort aircraft carriers

seaplane carriers

amphibious assault shipping

battlecruisers

dreadnought battleships

pre-dreadnought battleships

ironclads

bomb vessels

corvettes and sloops

cruisers

destroyers

fireships

frigates

gun-brigs, gunboats & gunvessels

mine countermeasure vessels

monitors

patrol and attack craft

royal yachts

ships of the line

submarines

support ships

survey vessels

shore establishments

hospitals and hospital ships

air stations

aircraft wings

fleets and major commands

squadrons and flotillas

early English ships • early Scots ships

This is a list of Royal Yachts of the United Kingdom. There have been 84 Royal Yachts since the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. King Charles II had 25 Royal Yachts and five were simultaneously in service in 1831. Occasionally merchantmen or warships have been chartered or assigned for special duty as a temporary Royal Yacht, for example the steamship Ophir in 1901 and the battleship HMS Vanguard in 1947. In 1997 HMY Britannia was decommissioned and not replaced. There is currently no British Royal Yacht, although MV Hebridean Princess is used by the Royal Family.

Ships

• Mary (1660-1675)
• Royal Escape
• Anne (1661-?)
• Bezan (1661-?)
• Katherine (1661 - ?) Built by Phineas Pett
• Charles (1662-?)
• Jamie or Jemmy
• Henrietta
• Merlin* (1666-?)
• Monmouth (1666-?)
• Navy (1666-?)
• Saudadoes (1670-?)
• Cleveland (1671-?)
• Queenborough (1671-?)
• Deale (1673-?)
• Isle of Wight (1673-?)
• Kitchen (1674-?)
• Katherine (1674-?)
• Portsmouth (1674-?)
• Charles (1675-?)
• Charlot (1677-?)
• Mary (1677-?)
• Henrietta (1679-?)
• Izabella Bezan (1680-?)
• Fubbs (1682-?)
• Isabella (1680-?)
• William & Mary (1694-?)
• Squirrel (1695-?)
• Scout (1695-?)
• Queenborough (1701-?)
• Soeesdyke (1702-?)
• Portsmouth (1702-?)
• Isabella (1703-?)
• Drake (1705-?)
• Dublin (1709-?)
• Bolton (1709-?)
• Charlot (1710-?)
• Carolina (1710-?)
• Chatham (1710-?)
• Chatham (1741-?)
• Portsmouth (1742-?)
• Royal Caroline (renamed Royal Charlotte in 1761), 1749 - ?
• Dorset (1753-?)
• Plymouth (1755-?)
• Augusta (1771-?)
• Portsmouth (1794-?)
• Plymouth (1796-?)
• Royal Sovereign (1804-?)
• William & Mary (1807-?)
• Royal George (1817-1842)
• Prince Regent (1820-?)
• Royal Charlotte (1824-?)
• Royal Adelaide (1833-?)
• Victoria and Albert (1843-1855) - remained in-service as Osborne (1855-1867)
• Fairy (1845-1863) (tender to Victoria and Albert)
• Elfin (1848-1901)
• Victoria and Albert (ii) (1855-1900)
• Alberta (1863-1913) (tender to Victoria and Albert (ii))
• Osborne (1870-1908) (tender to Victoria and Albert (ii))
• Victoria and Albert (iii) (1901-1937)
• SS Ophir* (1901) - chartered steamship for the royal tour of the colonies
• Alexandra (1908-1925)
• Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht)* (1893-1936)
• RMS Empress of Britain (1931-1940)
• Empress of Australia* (1939)
• HMS Renown (1916) Used in 1920 for the Prince of Wales Empire tour and in 1927 by the Duke and Duchess of York to visit Australia
• HMS Vanguard* (1947) Battleship used to take George VI and family to South Africa
• Gothic* (1952-1954)
• Britannia (1954-1997)
• MV Hebridean Princess* (2006-present)

* Not HMY.

References

• Madge, Tim (1997). Royal Yachts of the World. Thomas Reed Publications. pp. 182–3. ISBN 0901281743. 
• Fenwick, Valerie and Gale, Alison (1998), Historic Shipwrecks, Discovered, Protected and Investigated,pp112-113 Tempus Publishing Limited, ISBN 0-7524-1473-9. Describes the Mary and mentions Katherine and Phineas Pett.

External links

• Royal Marines Bands - mention of Ophir
• New York Times archive The end of the Royal Tour of 1901
• New York Times archive Ordering the new yacht in 1897
• Hampshire and Dorset shipwrecks Collision of HMY Albee with the Mistletoe
• New York Times archive Review of the Fleet 1897
• The list of Navy vessels for December 1695 (House of Commons Journal)
• The £1.4-million yacht Hebridian Princess This yacht was chartered by the Queen for her 80th Birthday. Formerly the MacBrayne ferry Columba built in 1964; converted to a miniature cruise ship for just 49 passengers in 1989.
• The £50-million Motor Yacht Leander Chartered by Prince of Wales for visit to Caribbean in March 2008. Chartered yacht instead of jet was to demonstrate his concern for the environment.