Plain sailing at Royal yacht’s farewell tour
IT was November 8, 1997 and the Royal Yacht Britannia was paying her last ever visit to the River Tyne.
The floating residence of Queen Elizabeth II, the ship had been launched at John Brown & Co shipyard on the River Clyde in April 1953, a couple of months before the young Queen’s coronation. Now, after 44 years in service, the famous vessel was being decommissioned, and was in the midst of a farewell tour of the UK.
The Chronicle reported 25 years ago: “In semi darkness and heavy rain the Royal Yacht Britannia sailed up the Tyne today to pay an emotional farewell to her public. On her final visit to the region she was met by the river pilot’s launch with a crew of journalists aboard.
“We were welcomed aboard the 5,000-tonne, 420ft vessel by her skipper Commodore Anthony Morrow before she turned about and headed up river. Britannia has been the nation’s favourite ship for 44 years and her farewell tour of the major ports in Britain has been an emotional journey.
“Coming up the Tyne backwards she passed the river’s famous landmarks from Tynemouth Priory, past the shipyards at Wallsend, and on to Newcastle’s world famous bridges. Escorted by the Type-42 destroyer HMS Manchester, her majestic arrival was only marred by the weather.”
By the time the Royal Yacht arrived on Tyneside, she had sailed more than one million miles around the globe on nearly 1,000 state visits, calling at more than 600 ports in 135 countries, welcoming aboard numerous heads of state, including various American presidents.
A favourite place for the Queen to relax, around 45 members of the royal household would accompany her on foreign visits, while the ship could accommodate 250 guests. During her triumphant 1977 UK Silver Jubilee tour, the Queen and Prince Philip had disembarked from the Royal Yacht at Newcastle Quayside for their rapturous Tyneside leg of the tour.
Now a permanent fixture at Leith docks near Edinburgh, the Royal Yacht Britannia is a major tourist attraction.