With a new baby expected any day now,
many people are thinking about the British Royal Family.
Accordingly, it seems fitting to look at the Royal Family's ship, HMY
Britannia.
The Britannia was built in the early
1950s not to be a pleasure boat for the Royal Family but to assist
the monarch in her duties as head of state by acting as a mobile base
of operations during her visits to foreign lands. Among other
things, the yacht allowed the Queen to host receptions and banquets
under the British flag while she was abroad. And the list of foreign
heads of state that visited Britannia during her 40 years of service
is quite impressive, including four United States Presidents.
Inside, Britannia does not overwhelm
you would grand salons and opulence. Rather, she is decorated like a
British country house from the first half of the 20th
century - - chintz, white painted walls. She did not even have a
swimming pool much less hot tubs, saunas, or other staples of the
mega-yachts that you see today.
As a ship, Britannia was obsolete by
the time she retired in 1997. Officers on the bridge spoke to a
separate wheelhouse via metal tubes, she was one of the last ships
with a riveted hull, and she was a steam ship. Since so little was
changed over the years, she is a time capsule of the technology of
the immediate port war period.
Today, Britannia is open to the public
and is a popular shore excursion during cruise ship calls in
Edinburgh, Scotland. She is moored at the Ocean Terminal in the
historic Port of Leith, not terribly far from the center of
Edinburgh.
There are several reasons Britannia
has become a popular attraction. First, as mentioned earlier, she is
interesting because of her older technology. Second, she was the
scene of historic events and hosted many famous people. But, I think
most importantly, the ship is of interest because of the glimpse she
offers of the Queen and the Royal Family. Britannia went directly
from being a royal residence to being a museum ship. As a result,
she did not have to re-created. Moreover, many of the contents are
on loan from the royal collections.
Our article about Britannia begins
with an introductory piece that tells the ship's story and provides
some information about visiting the ship today. Then we have a
multi-page photo tour that includes not just the royal apartments but
also the areas where the officers and crew lived and worked.
The article on Britannia begins at
http://www.beyondships3.com/visiting-royal-yacht-britannia.html
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