Western Morning News (Saturday)
New flagship to replace royal yacht
Ian L Handford, the day she is launched can’t come a day too soon...
WHEN the Royal Yacht Britannia was launched by John Brown shipyard on April 16th 1953, no-one foresaw the impact the new yacht would have around the globe, sailing it is believed more than a million miles undertaking the royal visits, diplomatic functions and supporting business events by utilising onboard exhibition space during the 40 years it served Great Britain at sea.
The yacht was ultimately decommissioned by the Blair government in 1997 and it has taken a Conservative government 24 years to announce a replacement vessel, presently called “Britannia II”.
The new vessel or ship when launched will not be a luxurious Royal Family yacht, which is possibly why the name has not to date been formally determined.
The ship will be our national flagship and once again crewed by the Royal Navy – mirroring its predecessor, the Royal Yacht. The new ship will be the first national flagship sailing the world and hopefully it should be ready to launch by 2025. The hope is it will become a popular venue for lease to British businesses and functions held all over the world, while additionally being available to host diplomatic meetings and trade exhibitions whilst retaining the option of having special accommodation always available for use by the Royal Family if required.
As a national flagship being crewed by serving officers of the British Royal Navy, to calculate the cost to the MOD is difficult, bearing in mind its use for high level diplomatic meetings and other noncommercial uses that occur. Yet without doubt having access to such a vessel at sea travelling the globe means it could be important to Great Britain as an emergency rescue or hospital or even medical ship, as well as being available at all times to respond to a military incident, etc. Whether a helipad will feature is as yet unknown, but the known specification certainly adds confidence when considering answers to the many questions already being posed concerning “value for money”.
Labour are already calling on the government to “ensure the ship gives value for money, is built by Britain and to set out how it would benefit every corner of Britain”, so the ability of Britannia II being able to do both high-level trade or diplomatic meetings rather than be just a floating home, must surely allay many of the concerns over the £200 million estimated cost. During its career at sea, the Royal Yacht Britannia was believed to have hosted hundreds of exhibitions and thousands of “trade days”, estimated to have earned Great Britain £millions in investment and trade deals during just the period 1991-1995. In essence, the commercial aspects of the new ship, whether or not it is used by the Royal family, has immense potential to answer any financial investment concerns.
It was a sad day indeed when in 1997 the Royal family lost the use of the Royal Yacht Britannia due to her being decommissioned and made into a static museum based at Edinburgh. We now trust the new ship will prove equally as successful as a highly visible expression of Great Britain and it majestic status. With its name yet to be formalised, suggestions like Britannia II, or Britain’s Flagship Britannia and The New Britannia, or even The Spirit of Britain and Challenger Britain have been posed. None of these make reference to a royal connection, so we will have to wait and see.
Meanwhile, cross-party MPs as well as officials at Whitehall have remarked they believe the withdrawal of the royal yacht was “short sighted”, while even the public saw it as a cruel end to what had been a successful career at sea.
Officials today confirm that any successor to the royal yacht should be a flagship, so that it can give “ultimate projection of the power and majesty of the United Kingdom around the globe and be the first sign of Global Britain in action”.
Others still believe the £200 million might still be better spent on roads, or that running costs might be as high as 10%; although for me, the sooner the launch of the new ship comes the better.
Monday: Judi Spiers gets to grips with new words - including ‘scurryfunges’. Any ideas..?