HMY Britannia (The Royal Yacht)

[Tyne Turbine]

As we approach another anniversary of the D Day landings this clip from YouTube of the 50th Anniversary in 1994 shows film of many fine ships including HMY Britannia, QE2, HMS Illustrious, Canberra and many others. Just a shame that the BBC transmission suffered from a few breaks and even worse that the excerpt does not show all the Review but switches to the French commemoration. Still to me well worth a view but perhaps I am biased as I was on board the Waverley for the events that day:

[andyh]

We took a tour of the Royal Yacht a couple of weeks ago and had tea on board, she really is an eye opener and what a fantastic example of British workmanship all round, she really was an ambassador for GBUK when she was abroad

[Rob Lightbody]

We took a tour of the Royal Yacht a couple of weeks ago and had tea on board, she really is an eye opener and what a fantastic example of British workmanship all round, she really was an ambassador for GBUK when she was abroad

 Did you think the large tearoom building on top was ok? What about the location behind a shopping mall? I think she's fabulous but I think she could be better positioned for more impact and more functions.

Your review makes me want to go on board again, last time I went was shortly after she opened to the public.

[Bruce Nicholls]

I agree. She is fabulous, one of the best visits we have made. Of course she should have a nice new set of diesel engines and be out representing our country.
However if she has to be laid up a better location would be very easy to find.

[Rod]

OK guys and gals.
Do not know how the MODS would wish to handle this of even if they wish to do it.
Went to Remembrance Day ceremonies at a big Air Force base in Tampa.
Talking to a friend of mine from the Falklands thing whom we took back on the QE2. His ship, HMS Coventry was blown out from under him.
I thought that he had left the RN after that, no he stayed in, did Desert Storm and did 7 or 8 years on the Brittania! Even its final voyage!
Do you wish me to ask him if he would be prepared to answer your questions?
MODS, do not know if you would want him to join, send him a list...let me know what you think is best and I will ask him!

[Lynda Bradford]

Thanks for thinking about giving us the opportunity to ask your friend questions about his time onboard Britannia and looking forward to hearing if members are interested and have questions to be asked.   

For previous question sessions we have had instances where ex crew like yourself have answered the questions on the post and if your friend was willing to join the forum that would be an option. 

For the Ask the Captain sessions where the Captain has not been a member, we have set up a topic with a cut off date for questions to be posted.  The Moderators have then compiled the list of questions to be sent to the Captain and when responses were received these were featured on the QE2 Story front page but as this section has been kept specifically for QE2 related items then this would probably not be an option for the Britannia questions.

However we could still post questions for you to pass onto your friend and when he responds with the answers we could have a topic on the forum. 

Interested to hear what Rob and other members of the forum think then we can plan. 

[Keith Walters]

I could not agree with you more! There is no respect anymore. PMs only last at the most around 10 years and their gone. The Queens first PM was Winston Churchill back in the 50's and our Queen is still their doing her job, I would not want it, never ever a day off.
Just so the politicians look good the the 'public' they take her yacht away, while they claim thousands for their own pockets. Not fair enough said...........

Well said  indeed.  I saw the beautiful HMY Britannia here in NZ a few times over the years, however one particular visit stands out in my mind.  I think it was on 8 February 1974, when Her Majesty, the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Anne and her husband Mark Phillips and Prince Charles, were on the deck for departure from Auckland.  They had been to a farewell banquet and HM and Princess Anne still had their tiaras on.  A surprise appearance was Lord Mountbatten, who quietly joined them on deck.  Nobody even knew he was aboard.  Our then PM, Norman Kirk, was just a deck down on the Princes Wharf Passenger Terminal and there was friendly banter going on between the crowd and him, all within easy earshot of the Royal family, who were very close by.  It was all quite magical and to top it all off, the band on board HMY Britannia, all dressed beautifully in uniform, played 'The Stripper'!.  It made everyone laugh, including Her Majesty and her family.  The sort of moment that is always appreciated and treasured.  I've  felt for some time, that respect has gone to a large degree, from the respect to HM and down.  What a wonderful time once again, it would be, if our Queen was again given what she truly deserves, in return for what she has done for all of us.  A yacht would be ideal and perfect!

Keith.   

[Bob van Leeuwen]

On the Saterday after the Conference we went to Edinburgh and also went to the Royal Yacht.


It was a nice experience, the ship looks like it is new, actually some restoration work was going on on the side shell with painting, the golden strip wasn't complete yet. The tour was great, and with some real nice touches like the original toilets throughout the ship. I also love how a lot of it is still original, and isn't touched and viewable during the tour.


Personally I do thing that the engine room part is a big let down, compared to the ss Rotterdam you just watch from behind a glass panel, and although the ss Rotterdam boiler room is the same, you actually walk past everything, so it is really easy to just not look at the glass. The main reason I could thing of doing it this way is asbestos. If they provide no access to it, I don't really see any reason to remove any of it, and keep it looking original.


The tea room looks kind of out of place, but the food is excellent, and especially for what we paid I can't complain at all to what I'm used around here.


Overall we had a great day, and I even brought home a little model of the Britannia. It was nice to see a Royal Yacht how it was used, since we don't have any left anymore apart from a small sailing boat that was given to Princess Beatrix and is still in use with them, so not public viewable.

[Andy Holloway]

When i was still a serving RM SNCO and working in Portsmouth, my 'next door neighborough' living in the Sgt's Mess was the Drum Major of The Royal Yacht RM Band. When The Royal Yacht was in dry dock in Portsmouth he took me down for a walk around, all rooms open, very interesting indeed.
While the Royal Apartments were 'palatial', the crew accommodation was spartan to say the least. The Royal Yacht was the last ship in the RN to finish using hammocks!

But she was of her 'time' and was becoming too expensive to maintain from an ever reducing Navy budget. Also, the type of fuel she used was becoming obsolete and very expensive. One of the main reasons she was not used in 1982 - Falklands - in her secondary RN role of a Hospital Ship. 


 

[Rob Lightbody]

On the Saterday after the Conference we went to Edinburgh and also went to the Royal Yacht.

Thanks for the update Bob!  Really pleased that you enjoyed it.  They do seem to be doing a brilliant job looking after her.

Believe it or not, and I am ashamed to say this, I haven't been since the year they opened her up!  I need to return soon. 

The first time I saw her was in 1986 in Clydebank, when she came back to her birthplace as part of Clydebank's centenary.  That Day, my Dad met the Queen, and later on we watched from the banks of the Clyde as the yacht sailed downriver, and we got a wave from the Royal party.

Part of the reason I haven't been to visit again, is I absolutely hate where they have put her - tied up behind a shopping mall, where nobody can see her. 

[Bob van Leeuwen]

It is all done very well, the moment you enter the lobby where the ticket booth is, until you leave the ship. And that all done by a charitable organization, it is really easy to see that they care about the Britannia. The way you are taking trough the ship, using the staircase that is quay side is really cleaver. This way my Granddad could also visit her, even with his limited walking that he sadly has these days.


I personally would really recommend everybody to take a look whose is around, and has a couple of spare hours (it really takes that long, but it is well worth it).
Must say that I don't really like the location either, if it was me, I would have put here at the old fitting out basin at JB's, but I can see why the current location really works, with the shopping male, loads of (!!free!!, something I'm not used to in big cities) parking. Driving towards here from the good side, it is hard to spot the ship. Not to drag on about the Rotterdam again, but that is what I really enjoy driving to the skip, for the last +/-700m you see this colossal 'thing' appearing out of no where, that reveals it self the closer you get, a real nice experience (watch out as you get close to the ship, don't drive straight in the old spare screw).


Rob, did your Dad have the same function to the Royal Yacht as he did for QE2? Must have been a thrill for your dad to meet the Queen, do you have any photographs ore something like that from then?

[Alex Tarry]

This is great to hear, I haven't seen her since they first opened either.  I also don't like the relationship she now has with the shopping centre, but have to confess, when I first saw her I was extremely upset.  Mainly as they'd sliced out parts of the ship's navigation system and put it shoreside, so "we could see it", taken a huge piece out of her side, leaving a tiny freeboard, imagine a historic building being treated like this and you get the idea.

In my view her integrity as a vessel should have been respected...every else is secondary...

[Rob Lightbody]

Hi,

I visited the Royal Yacht today, for the first time in I think 19 years!  Last time I visited, she wasn't hiding behind a shopping centre.

In Summary - I had a lovely time on board, but I'm appalled at the carbuncle of a tearoom stuck on top.

£16 each, but you can apply for year's annual pass for free as part of that, which i think is good.  The self-guided audio tour was excellent and you got a feel for what every area of the ship had been like in service.  A problem through was small children running and screaming around, but that seems to be a problem everywhere nowadays... I'm not sure why you'd take a small child on board at all, its pretty inevitable they'd be very bored...

Maintenance looks to be very good, everywhere.  Very impressed by that.  And I loved the original crew shop was open selling lovely fudge made on board!  The ship had a nice feeling of being alive and operational, the galleys were busy making stuff for the tearoom.

And about that tearoom.  I was determined to be open minded about it, and we had coffee there to test the atmosphere, but I'm really appalled by it.  Its totally out of proportion to that part of the ship, and a couple of additional structures have been built to serve it too, coming up through the original deck.  I get that they need to make as much money as possible, but I'm just really, really sad that this is the only way they could do it.  The number 1 best thing about Britannia is that she's really beautiful... or was!

The "Britannia View" restaurant in the adjacent Debenhams, however, gives a lovely view of the ship without having to be in the carbuncle.

Another Royal Yacht - the Bloodhound is berthed on Britannia's Starboard side, and you can exit through a hull door near the bow, and go and look at her, and look up at Britannia - very reminiscent of using a tender on QE2.

[June Ingram]

Hi Rob - Thanks for telling us about your visit to HMY Britannia. Were you allowed to take any photos ?   

[Rob Lightbody]

Hi Rob - Thanks for telling us about your visit to HMY Britannia. Were you allowed to take any photos ?