LittleSister
Well-known member
Other traditional British craft are available, and would suit the eco-friendly intention mentioned:
A 'national flag ship' planned to replace Royal Yacht
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JumbleDuck
Well-known member
I am duly corrected. It was during the pageant that the Queen didn;t dare set foot on Gloriana. She appears to have made a short trip on board since. Thanks.
Kukri
Well-known member
As a little boy, I waved a flag at HM and HRH during their State Visit to Sweden in 1956. They actually travelled from Britain on board the Britannia. A proper use of the (then new) Royal Yacht.
I found a short newsreel clip of the event. It is very apparent that the Swedes are at least as good at “royalty” as we British are. The clip starts by showthe proper use of a State Barge:
My father was a very unimportant Attaché, which was why I got close enough to wave.
HMY Britannia did a navigationally notable thing. The morning of the arrival was foggy (it cleared later) and Britannia, having no doubt a better radar set, left her escorting destroyers behind and steamed through the fog so as not to be late. This was much remarked on.
That seems to me to be a correct use of a Royal Yacht.
I found a short newsreel clip of the event. It is very apparent that the Swedes are at least as good at “royalty” as we British are. The clip starts by showthe proper use of a State Barge:
My father was a very unimportant Attaché, which was why I got close enough to wave.
HMY Britannia did a navigationally notable thing. The morning of the arrival was foggy (it cleared later) and Britannia, having no doubt a better radar set, left her escorting destroyers behind and steamed through the fog so as not to be late. This was much remarked on.
That seems to me to be a correct use of a Royal Yacht.
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Beelzebub
Well-known member
I'm sorry but I can't see any justification in your gripe. The proposer of the project has form with madcap ideas and the topic is marine-related, though arguably it should be in the motor-boat forum.
LittleSister
Well-known member
chriss999
Well-known member
I agree, and it’s been politely discussed. It is a shame that Bedouin has taken exception to the sensible scepticism expressed here.
Biggles Wader
Well-known member
No sense of humour---at all. Never did have and probably never will. But lets not allow that to stop the rest of us having a grin.
RAI
Well-known member
Will the new yacht have a garden bridge?
Name chosen by the public, Boris McBoatface or Boat McBorisface?
Name chosen by the public, Boris McBoatface or Boat McBorisface?
Kukri
Well-known member
Talking of garden bridges, I have a working rule that the more greenery there is in a wheelhouse the more sheltered the life that ship has been leading. I remember buying a Japanese VLCC that came with detailed instructions on the care of the potted plants in the wheelhouse.
There was once an offshore air dive and survey ship built for charter to an oil major for use in an offshore oilfield in Southeast Asia. This charter proved to be “evergreen” as the field was very old and very profitable and the oil company had lost track of what pipes and wells they had laid and drilled.
That little ship had, of course, a fore bridge and an after bridge combined into one big wheelhouse and by year ten of the charter she had developed a positive jungle. She had acquired, courtesy of one of her regular Masters, a monkey to live in the jungle. She also had a cat. In the course of a two week long dive survey of a completely forgotten pipeline the dive team were in the habit of spreading their results over the large chart table.
On the last night of the survey the complete results were spread over the chart table. It came to pass that the monkey had a falling out with the cat. It has been suggested that the monkey had made improper advances to the cat and had been rebuffed, but I cannot confirm this.
At all events a very angry monkey decided to tear up everything he could get his hands on. Including all the divers’ charts.
We then had the problem of explaining to the oil company concerned, who are not renowned for their sense of humour, what had happened.
We agreed to go off hire and do it all again.
The monkey was put ashore. He was lucky. One of the officers came from British West Hartlepool, and we all know what they do to monkeys, there.
Every word of this story is true.
There was once an offshore air dive and survey ship built for charter to an oil major for use in an offshore oilfield in Southeast Asia. This charter proved to be “evergreen” as the field was very old and very profitable and the oil company had lost track of what pipes and wells they had laid and drilled.
That little ship had, of course, a fore bridge and an after bridge combined into one big wheelhouse and by year ten of the charter she had developed a positive jungle. She had acquired, courtesy of one of her regular Masters, a monkey to live in the jungle. She also had a cat. In the course of a two week long dive survey of a completely forgotten pipeline the dive team were in the habit of spreading their results over the large chart table.
On the last night of the survey the complete results were spread over the chart table. It came to pass that the monkey had a falling out with the cat. It has been suggested that the monkey had made improper advances to the cat and had been rebuffed, but I cannot confirm this.
At all events a very angry monkey decided to tear up everything he could get his hands on. Including all the divers’ charts.
We then had the problem of explaining to the oil company concerned, who are not renowned for their sense of humour, what had happened.
We agreed to go off hire and do it all again.
The monkey was put ashore. He was lucky. One of the officers came from British West Hartlepool, and we all know what they do to monkeys, there.
Every word of this story is true.
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boatiebert
N/A
Do you mean quarantine ship?
I can see a touch of the old Cunard in its funnel but it's just Boris dog whistling to the Daily Express/brass band crowd. May be he should get Joanna Lumley on board, that's sure to make it a success?
But why, if it's all about the future & British greatness, cough, does it even have a funnel in the first place? Should it be as green as possible?
He'd get more traction if he commissioned a fleet of anti-migrant patrol boats.
Funnily enough, I once had the opportunity to discuss the planned demise of British Shipbuilders with Admiral Sir Anthony Griffin himself but, sadly, to even whisper an inkling about it would probably be breaking some new rule or another. Profitable ship-builders, among the best in the world, being sold off or closed on a piecemeal basis, opening the door to the Korean et al to take its place.
Can a discussion of history be divorced from social & political affairs?
Meanwhile, here are a couple of real royal yachts. The advantage of knobbing a Windsor, for penniless princes, is getting to have Uffa Fox teaching you how to sail personally, and C&N build you beauties for taking your bits on the side out.
The design above is the epitome of mediocre awfulness no one will be interested in or impressed by any more. In that way, I suppose it works as a national ship.
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Capt Popeye
Well-known member
Might mention that the idea of a new English Ship at this time is akin to the 'Festival Of Britain Exhibition' that was built on the South Bank many years ago, in similar times as we have now; Britain was slowly recovering from the toll of WW2 and this exhibition helped provide a real boost to moral and advertised British design and build expertise to both us British and the World in general
My take is that a new designed and locally built Ship would achieve very similar results
My take is that a new designed and locally built Ship would achieve very similar results
chriss999
Well-known member
The Frstival of Britain was (apparently) exciting and relevant at the time because it celebrated British originality and technical excellence across a range of design, industry and technology. This boat project is quite the contrary. It’s old and tired and pointless and not relevant to anything.
So not really a fair comparison.
A festival of Britain for the 21st century needs a lot more than this.
Let’s see more investment in British people, in skills training, in science and technology, and re-growth of British manufacturing, and better careers for our young people, and a boost to social mobility and then we might have something to celebrate.
So not really a fair comparison.
A festival of Britain for the 21st century needs a lot more than this.
Let’s see more investment in British people, in skills training, in science and technology, and re-growth of British manufacturing, and better careers for our young people, and a boost to social mobility and then we might have something to celebrate.
boatiebert
N/A
They could ask James Dyson to design a better one, though he would want to build it in Singapore.
Comparing it to, say, Steve Job's final vanity project it doesn't really pass muster at all.
So many superyachts look like they've been designed by the same guys as make Nike sports shoes these day.
I thought luxury submarines were going to become the next big thing. Or may be superyacht-airships, like the Avalon?
Comparing it to, say, Steve Job's final vanity project it doesn't really pass muster at all.
So many superyachts look like they've been designed by the same guys as make Nike sports shoes these day.
I thought luxury submarines were going to become the next big thing. Or may be superyacht-airships, like the Avalon?
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AndrewfromFal
Active member
HMS Spaffer, or The Carrie Celeste
jordanbasset
Well-known member
My guess is that it will go the same way as other Johnson projects, 'Boris Island (a new airport in the middle of the Thames), The Garden Bridge, a Bridge across the Channel to France and a Bridge/tunnel connecting England, Scotland and Northern Island with a roundabout at the Isle of Man...
Capt Popeye
Well-known member
Well guess we are both talking from different viewpoints, mine is from certinly from the open for business Rural and Vacation sector of Devon
Most of the political points or comments that you make would surely be exhibited in a modern British Ship design and build; after all guess that these days to build such a ship would require modern training in design, engineering application etc etc; so the proof would be in the pudding
D
Deleted member 36384
Guest
I do hope it goes ahead and is successful, but that the design is very different to what is proposed. Her Majesty, God Bless her, Long Live Tbe Queen, should be laid to rest in the new boat and scuttled at the maritime geographical centre of the empire when it was at its largest. Our Royal Navy would fire a hundred gun salute plus her final age in years, with the whole ceremony steamed live with rousing renditions of Jerusalem, Land of Hope and Glory, The National Anthem and a rousing end with Status Quo’s Down, Down. What could be more representative of Great Britain, Britannia and patriotism in resplendent descendancy. As the sun sets, the nation humbled and sobbing, a turn to their TVs as the drum roll of all of the military’s drums beats a rising crescendo, His Majesty’s Navy spotlights reel and roll and turn their attention to a spot on the ocean where the waters are swirling and foaming and coalescing into a gyre of stupendous dimensions as aghast, the prow of the refurbished Titanic bursts forth from the deep with a proud prow mounted Boris fist held high, wrapped in the Union flag as the whole nation cheers in elation sure in their future!
LittleSister
Well-known member
Exactly so. The Festival of Britain was at a time when Britain was forward looking, outward looking, and excited about how the future could actively be made better than the past.
The dominant mood today is, sadly, backward and inward looking, and this ship proposal is all too representative of that.
Kukri
Well-known member
The British yacht building industry, just starting to recover from penal taxation and restrictions on timber under the Attlee government, was represented at the Festival of Britain by one of Claude Whisstock’s “Deben Six Tonners”.
doug748
Well-known member
If you object I should report it for the moderators to look at.
I have already suggested the whole lot is dumped somewhere else, it's just a platform for the usual people to tell us what they think of politics, with a side order of 5th form comedy. The issue has been discussed at length here before, if anyone is seriously interested in the technical issues they can trail it in another place.
Here it's a carbuncle and puts out a feeler for more daftness from the usual.
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