HMY Victoria and Albert (1899)
{{Other ships|HMY Victoria and Albert}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image=HMSVictori&AlbertatChristiania.jpg |Ship image size = 300px | Ship caption=HMY Victoria and Albert }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header= | Ship country=United Kingdom | Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} | Ship name=HMY Victoria and Albert | Ship namesake=Queen Victoria & Albert, Prince Consort | Ship ordered= | Ship awarded= | Ship builder=Pembroke Dock | Ship original cost=£572,000 | Ship yard number= | Ship way number= | Ship laid down= | Ship launched=9 May 1899 | Ship sponsor=Duchess of York | Ship christened= | Ship completed= | Ship acquired= | Ship commissioned=23 July 1901 | Ship decommissioned=1939 | Ship in service= | Ship out of service= | Ship renamed= | Ship reclassified= | Ship refit= | Ship struck= | Ship reinstated= | Ship homeport= | Ship identification= | Ship motto= | Ship nickname= | Ship honours= | Ship fate=Broken up, 1954 | Ship notes= | Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header= | Header caption= | Ship class= | Ship type=Royal Yacht | Ship tonnage= | Ship displacement=4,700 tons | Ship length=*{{cvt|420|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} LOA
| Ship beam={{convert|50|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship height= | Ship draught={{convert|18|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship depth= | Ship hold depth= | Ship decks=Five | Ship deck clearance= | Ship power= | Ship propulsion=*Humphrys, Tennant and Co. steam engines | Ship sail plan= | Ship speed=*{{cvt|17|knots|mph km/h}} sustained
| Ship range= | Ship endurance= | Ship complement=336 | Ship sensors= | Ship EW= | Ship armament= | Ship armour= | Ship notes= }} |
HMY Victoria and Albert was a royal yacht of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. The yacht was designed by the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy Sir William White, launched in 1899 and ready for service in 1901. This was the third yacht to be named Victoria and Albert and she was fitted with steam engines fired by Belleville water-tube boilers. She served four sovereigns, and was decommissioned as royal yacht in 1939, served in the Second World War, and was broken up in 1954.
Background and Construction
Queen Victoria had lobbied Parliament for many years for a more modern yacht to replace the previous {{ship|HMY|Victoria and Albert|1855}}, winning this expenditure after pointing out that both the Russian Tsar and the German Kaiser had larger and more modern yachts than Great Britain.
The yacht was launched at Pembroke Dockyard 9 May 1899 by the Duchess of York.{{cite journal |date=June 1899 |title=Published designs (note) |journal=Marine Engineering |volume=3 |issue=6 |location=New York |publisher=Aldrich & Donaldson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OuzNAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA5-PA2 |access-date=20 March 2020}} She was completed in the summer 1901, seven months after the death of Queen Victoria. The total cost of the ship was £572,000, five-sevenths the cost of the battleship {{HMS|Renown|1895|6}}.
The vessel had an antiquated look when launched as the design was made to resemble the 1855 side wheel steamer Victoria and Albert. Unlike yachts of other monarchs of the time the vessel was purely a yacht, not a combination yacht and warship. The yacht's dimensions were {{cvt|420|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} length, {{cvt|380|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} length between perpendiculars, {{cvt|50|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} beam with a displacement of 5,700 tons and {{cvt|18|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} draft. Belleville water-tube boilers provided steam powering two sets of vertical four cylinder triple expansion engines with combined 11,000 indicated horse power for eight hours and 7,500 indicated horse power on a continuous basis.{{cite journal |date=August 1899 |title=Royal Yacht Machinery |journal=Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers |volume=11 |issue=3 |publisher=American Society of Naval Engineers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7nhNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA810 |access-date=20 March 2020}} The boilers were arranged in two watertight compartments one before the other with six boilers in the forward compartment and nine in the aft compartment. The engines were in two side by side watertight compartments. The engine cylinders with a stroke of {{cvt|3|ft|3|in|m|1|abbr=on}} were arranged so that two low pressure cylinders ({{cvt|53|in|cm|1|abbr=on}}) bracketed the high pressure cylinder ({{cvt|26.5|in|cm|1|abbr=on}}) placed forward of the intermediate pressure cylinder ({{cvt|44.5|in|cm|1|abbr=on}}). Two {{cvt|13|ft|3|in|m|1|abbr=on}} propellers with {{cvt|17|ft|6|in|m|1|abbr=on}} pitch drove the yacht at {{cvt|17|knots|mph km/h}} with maximum speed of {{cvt|20|knots|mph km/h}}. Three dynamo sets provided electric light power. Refrigeration units were placed at the aft end of each engine room. Coal capacity was sufficient for a steaming range of 2,000 miles (type not stated) at {{cvt|14|knots|mph km/h}}.{{cite journal |date=25 May 1899 |title=The Queen's Yacht |journal=Marine Review |volume=19 |issue=21 |page=14 |location=Cleveland, Ohio |publisher=The Marine Review Publishing Co. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0JohAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA20-PA16 |access-date=20 March 2020}}
Three masts were rigged fore and aft with two funnels for the five decked vessel. On the after half of the bridge deck was a {{cvt|180|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} pavilion with an {{cvt|85|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} dining room. A smoking room and reception room were also in the pavilion. An electric hoist was available from the reception room to the royal apartments below, becoming the first ship in the world to be fitted with an elevator.
During fitting-out the yacht had significant extra weight added including concrete ballast and even a large traditional capstan so the Queen could be entertained by watching the sailors work. This extra weight proved to be beyond the original design parameters and resulted in the ship tipping over when the dock was flooded – causing significant damage to the ship. Designer Sir William White was exonerated from direct responsibility, but lost confidence and resigned his role as Chief Constructor shortly afterwards.
Operational history
Victoria and Albert was commissioned at Portsmouth 23 July 1901 by Commodore the Hon. Hedworth Lambton, who hoisted his broad pennant. Nearly all the ship's company of 230 men of the old Victoria and Albert were transferred to the new yacht, which with an additional 100 men had a company of 336.{{cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=24 July 1901 |page=11 |issue=36515}}
File:The Royal Yacht 'Victoria and Albert' Leading the Fleet off Weymouth, 1935.jpg]]
King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited their new yacht in early August 1901, and used it for the first time when crossing the English Channel on 9 August 1901 to attend the funeral in Germany of the King's sister, Empress Frederick.{{cite newspaper The Times |title=The late Empress Frederick - Movements of the King and Queen |date=9 August 1901 |page=6 |issue=36529}} She was the base for the royal couple during the fleet review held at Spithead on 16 August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Coronation - Naval Review |date=13 August 1902 |page=4 |issue=36845}} Following the review, the royal couple toured the West Coast of Scotland and visited the Isle of Man, before the Victoria and Albert took Queen Alexandra to Copenhagen for her annual autumn visit. In late 1902 she was docked for several months to be fitted with telescopic masts,{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=8 October 1902 |page=4 |issue=36893}} and in January 1903 she was placed in dry-dock at Portsmouth to have her hull coated and painted and an overhaul of her under-water fittings.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=13 January 1903 |page=8 |issue=36976}}
King Edward later used the yacht for summer cruises most years of his reign, visiting various countries in Europe.
Victoria and Albert later served King George V, King Edward VIII and King George VI, and took part in two fleet reviews (in 1935 and the Coronation Review of the Fleet, 1937), but was withdrawn after the latter and decommissioned in 1939. She served as a depot ship during the Second World War, as an accommodation ship to {{HMS|Excellent|shore establishment|6}}, and was broken up in 1954. During 1947, while moored alongside at Whale Island, her caretaker was Mr J.G. "Tom" Cox BEM, RN. He was responsible for the care of her contents, some of which were selected for eventual use in {{Ship|HMY|Britannia}}.
Although there were plans for a new yacht to be built these were suspended due to the outbreak of the Second World War. Eventually HMY Britannia replaced Victoria and Albert in 1954.
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last1=Archibald |first1=E.H.H. |first2=Ray, (ill.) |last2=Woodward |title=The Metal Fighting Ship in the Royal Navy 1860-1970 |url=https://archive.org/details/metalfightingshi0000arch |url-access=registration |date=1971 |publisher=Arco Publishing Co |location=New York |isbn=0-668-02509-3 |name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite book |last1=Sturton |first1=Ian |editor1-last=Jordan |editor1-first=John |title=Warship 2021 |date=2021 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-1-4728-4779-9 |chapter=HMY Yacht Victoria and Albert III|pages=130–149}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|HMY Victoria and Albert III (ship, 1899)}}
- [http://www.maritimequest.com/yatchs/victoria_and_albert_page_1.htm MaritimeQuest photo gallery: Victoria and Albert]
- [http://www.britishpathe.com/video/worlds-largest-graving-dock-aka-worlds-largest-gra Video of Victoria and Albert] at the opening ceremony of Southampton's King George V dry dock in July 1933
{{Royal Yachts of the United Kingdom}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Victoria and Albert 03}}