75 Conservative MPs have now signed a letter to the Prime Minster urging that a commission is established to look into building a new Royal Yacht. This is the revival of a proposal originally made by Michael Gove in 2012. No design for such a ship exists as yet, but it is intended as a statement of British confidence in a post-Brexit world and as a platform for diplomacy and trade deals. Here we examine if this is a wise idea.
Background
HMY Britannia was built by John Browns of Glasgow, launched in 1953 in very different times when the Clyde was still leading the world in shipbuilding. Britain was gradually emerging from post-war austerity, although average living standards of the time were far below that of today. Most significantly, few people in the 1950s would question the institution of monarchy or the need for the tax payer to fund a lavish yacht. Britain’s monarchs have had a string of private yachts since 1660. Britannia was nominally also supposed to be a hospital ship in emergencies, a capability that was never utilised as well as being earmarked the royal family’s ‘floating bunker’ in the event of nuclear war.
The ship was proudly manned by RN personnel or “yachties” who could volunteer to stay permanently assigned to Britannia, The ship was much-loved by the general public, the Navy and the Royal Family. Beautiful and elegant, she was a fine ambassador for the UK. She not only provided discreet and wonderful holidays for royalty but was a venue for UK diplomatic and trade missions, a role in which she was exceptionally successful. It is claimed that deals worth £3Bn to the UK economy were concluded aboard her in the early 1990s. The Conservative government of John Major planned to replace the ship and the RN had begun design work on the new ship. (Artists impression at the top of this article) The £100M design was externally broadly similar to its predecessor but with modernised bridge, flight deck and diesel-electric propulsion. Perhaps trying to enhance his flimsy socialist principles, Tony Blair axed the replacement project soon after his election victory in 1997. The ceremony to mark Britannia’s retirement held in Portsmouth was one of the most emotional RN ship decommissionings in living memory, complete with a queen in tears. Britannia is now preserved as award-winning tourist visitor attraction in Lieth.
A divisive proposal
Unfortunately, any proposal for a new Royal Yacht goes to the heart of British neurosis about class identity. Those steeped in an unhealthy culture of entitlement and petty jealously, together with the politics of republicanism, appeasement and hatred of your own nation would be implacably opposed.
In defence of the monarchy…
The queen is head of the armed forces (incidentally a valuable constitutional ‘safety valve’ absent in a republic). The monarchy represents lasting historical continuity and brings a gravitas and respect to the position of head of state that is increasingly missing from our elected politicians. The argument that they are a parasite on the taxpayer and abolishing the monarchy would save a bit of money is mere envy and very short-sighted. The interest and prestige generated by the Royal family generates its own economic benefit, hard to quantify but it almost certainly outweighs the cost of maintaining them. Loved around the world, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth has worked incredibly hard throughout her life in the interests of the nation and continues this work despite being in her 90s. The Republic of Britain would be a poorer and a much-diminished nation. And after all, there is only one Royal Navy.
Although the new yacht would not be directly funded by the taxpayer, in a time of “austerity” it still looks like a wrong priority for government and gives the impression of Tory MPs more excited about playthings for royalty than addressing poverty or even the poor state of the RN. Inevitably there would be cries that “my local hospital / school / library etc is underfunded but we can find money for a yacht for our rich elites”.
It is boom time in the super yacht-building industry as the number of millionaires and billionaires is on the rise. Exclusive marinas across the world are filling up with the status symbols of the uber rich, many of them tax-avoiding, non-doms who have made their fortunes in the UK. Meanwhile, the public finances are struggling and the naval dockyards are increasingly empty of warships. A royal yacht would have a certain level of gravitas far above some billionaire’s display of obscene wealth but inevitably it would still be perceived as a toy for the elite. Current dire manpower shortages leave the RN quite unable to provide the crew, further diminishing the special status of a new vessel.
A security headache
The world is much-changed since the last Britannia retired and a new yacht would represent an attractive terrorist target. She might require an armed escort vessel in many areas of the world and need to draw on scarce RN resources. An RN or Royal Marine attachment might be permanently needed on board to provide force protection. All warships entering harbour now routinely have guns manned as a precaution against terrorists in small boats.
A hospital ship instead?
A good use of political capital and financial resources would be to build one, or ideally two hospital ships. As we have advocated previously, cheap merchant ship conversions, manned by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary could provide a great humanitarian resource that would be worthy ’soft power’ ambassadors for Britain and give our armed forces a mobile hospital in time of war. This could be entirely financed by DFID with minimal impact on their already generous budget.
The new aircraft carriers – an eloquent expression of UK confidence
The UK is about to benefit from the delivery of the two largest ships ever built for the Royal Navy. Their arrival will have a big impact abroad and are a ready-made statement of UK confidence and self-belief that renders a new yacht for such purposes rather redundant. The priority for HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales will be operational tasks but they can also serve as spacious platforms for trade and diplomacy. Although HMY Britannia is sadly missed and the principle of yachts for royalty seem reasonable, one can only conclude that building a replacement now would be the wrong ship at the wrong time.
It could be done by private donations including the running costs, in part.
Not all yachts are owned by tax evading billionaires and the industry supports a large workforce despite attempts to paint it in a negative light.
If a Royal Yacht is seriously being considered, why is consideration not being given to refitting Britannia? There are much older motor yachts than Britannia still in service in the world. HNoMY Norge is much older as are Dona Amelia, Shemara, Malahne and Alicia (to name but a few). Some are extensively refitted to modern standards with up to date machinery and equipment, others sympathetically restored but still maintaining their original power plants. What would gain more respect on the world stage? A shiny modern gin palace or a refitted classic beauty? Modernise her plant for leaner manning and add a helideck and with the right investment Britannia could sail again.
From a financial side, sorry don’t see that this should come from the public purse, nor be crewed / staffed by the RN (i.e. also from the public purse). Private finance initiative fine, go ahead ………. but I do think that the Royal Family are wealthy enough to shoulder some of the costs themselves.
Private finance initiative isn’t the same as private donations – it means paying for it on the never-never which always means paying more in the end.
You plebs are clearly not thinking outside the box. Why don’t we take one of the Batch 1 Rivers, give it a blue and white paint job with some spray cans from B&Q, weld an old lamp post atop the bridge and then hoist a sail up it with the words ‘Punching Above Our Weight’ emblazoned across it.
The ceremony to rename the ship as HMY Global Power could be led by the greatest Defence Secretary this country has ever been blessed with, Sir Michael Fallon – so great we gave him a knighthood. When giving the Queen a tour of the yacht, Sir Michael will be able to boast that it offers ‘more space, more heritage and more Ferrero Rochers at readiness’ than the previous HMY Britannia.
Of course, such a national treasure could only be entrusted to the sharpest minds in all of Blighty – the economists who accurately predicted economic Armageddon following the Brexit vote. No-one else would be able to impress upon visiting dignitaries the intellectual superiority of the British establishment.
we need to have trade missions once more after brexit,as we no longer have the french and germans failing to do it on our behalf anymore. the old royal Yacht bought in billions to the UK with its overseas trade missions, every country has trade fairs and missions they would rent a hotel or conference hall (not the best way), the royal yacht ensured the countries leaders, best companies and senior associates attended in order for us to sell our wares. As for armageddon You are wrong or know very little about the EU and how it puts the UK at the back of the line for trade, we will still trade with them as always and now we can get our own business on our own terms that suit our country how and where we wish rather than beg it from people in Brussells who do not have our best interests at heart…
None of my above comment should be taken seriously. Fallon is not our best ever Defence Sec. and the Armageddon-predicting economists are not the UK’s sharpest minds – there has not been, and probably will not be, a Brexit-induced economic Armageddon.
Apologies if I have just torpedoed your comment’s pedalo 🙁
A royal yacht is a good idea if, like the previous one, it generates more in trade deals than it costs to build, maintain and operate. It should not, however, be funded by Defence. The newly formed Dept. for International Trade should pay for it.
Again rubbish.
Rubbish.
Or better, why not go and grab Tito’s old yacht Galeb, that’s sitting rusting away in Croatia? It’s similar in size and layout to Britannia, and was purchased for scrap metal value by the City of Rijeka some years ago. Since then they have been trying to raise the funds to turn it into a museum, and the latest proposal to do so relies on EU funding which is unlikely to be forthcoming now that the UK’s net contribution is going to disappear. I am sure the city would be happy to give the ship away if they knew it was going to a good home.
What’s more, Her Majesty has already been on board – in 1953!
Cost of a refit to modern billionaire-plaything standards has been estimated at £40 million, less than half an OPV.
No it is not a good idea
Move on
No doubt certain amount prestige was associated with Britannia and for almost 4 decades a status symbol for UK and trade. However, and certainly after 2007/08, followed by 8 years, thus far, of austerity that has HIT the lowest three Quintiles the hardest gradually reducing what was once a thriving middle class, it would be crass to use public money for a new Royal Yacht especially when successive governments have failed to order replacement vessels for 25 years! On top of which the Royal Navy has been hacked and cut from 80,000 in 1990 down to 27,000 today and could not logically or sensibly commit RN personnel for such a venture over its lifetime! Britannia was also nominated as a hospital ship but I cannot remember it ever having been used in such a capacity during its lifetime! By all means encourage wealthy people, and we have 130 billionaires and some 730,000 millionaires in UK, to consider contributing to the vessel and running costs.
you seem to be able to quote a lot of facts and figures as to why we should not have another royal yacht, do some research and let me know the cost of the royal yacht and how much it earned the country in trade over its lifetime, and then tell me what better platform to gain trade deals from…thankyou
Refit Old Britannia. The Government owes Bae an annual retainer which has resulted in overpriced River batch 2’s. Just ask Bae to throw in the cost of the refit and she’ll be good for another 30 years and can double up as a training vessel.
No build warships not pleasure craft
You need to study up on Royal Navy history. A replacement for Britannia never went ahead because the Conservative government at the time took far to long to set aside funding for the vessel, and John Major failed to consult with the Labour Party and secure their support for the project before the official announcement.
The Royal Family believe that most of the blame lies with the Tories.
Did you ask HM her views over tea and stickies one day???? Intrigued as to where your intel comes from????
I’m with @Farce Multiplier on this one…
I think the clever treasury people should:-
1. Put all the RN vessels through an upgrade program then sell the lot at a loss. We have experience in doing this sort of thing. – Ark Royal, Diligent, Type-22’s, Type-23’s on the cheap to Chile, OPV’s on the cheap to Brazil.. etc.
2. With the proceeds we can then buy two HMY’s and call them the Grand Fleet… then potter around looking for people/countries to invest in our great nation.
Actually, no we should not have another HMY.
Nation to nation trade deals are tempting if there is a both a financial incentive and, more significantly for the RN, the nation we wish to trade with can gain tangible security benefits. A strong, well funded and larger RN would provide such a tangible security benefit to smaller countries (Persian Gulf Nations) or similar sized (Malaysia/Australia) countries. It would even show a positive commitment to larger nations when negotiating trade deals (USA).
Saving the RN from its current predicament would provide a cost benefit to the UK over a longer period of time.
Spend the money from a HMY on the Navy and its excellent sailors and their families housing.
Ivan Z.
To seriously contemplate building a royal yacht , waste more money is absolutely beyond me.i am a royalist but this ridiculous.
We should put the money to better use in the royal navy ie start the t26s,arm the carriers ,build more t45s our navy is a shadow of its former self .If we don’t bring it up to scratch and increase hulls our nation when we start to trade globally again will come up short and history shows what happens when a navy has no serious assets available in time of need..
I seriously hope this new government starts to put a realistic amount of funds into defence instead of cooking the books like Cameron and Osborne did ..
Why don’t we give the contract to Sunseeker yachts of Poole I’m sure they would love to get there teeth into project like this,could you emagin advertising potential for that company. When you see alot of these Arab states,and other big buisness tycoons,the yachts they have it doesn’t have to be as elaborate as the one shown. All we need a yacht for is for the royal family to travel and heads of state to promote our country,especially now we are heading for Brexit what better way and we need one now……
Do we really want to see the future Royal Yacht, bearing in mind the success of its predecessor, painted battleship grey as the stand – in Falklands guard ship, or scooping up refugees in the Mediterranean, or how about hurricane assistance in the West Indies !!!. There is only one ship that the Royal Navy needs, or to be more precise a whole class of ships, and that is as Nelson constantly reminds us. FRIGATES, FRIGATES FRIGATES
What about building another type 31 hull and using that as the basis?