PAST RIVER PAGEANTS
“Two men in trilby hats boiling shrimps took a few moments to give us a wave”
Above: A large rowing boat which appears to be carrying the King and Queen passes under London Bridge during a ceremonial pageant of 1918 Above right: Britannia arriving at Greenwich on 15 May 1954
For the return trip, the royal party joined Victoria &
Albert’s 161ft (49.1m) tender, the steam yacht Fairy, which had been laid down in 1844 at Blackwall to enable the royal family to visit those ports and rivers that were too shallow for the V&A. Prince Frederick’s barge subsequently suffered the ignominy of being sawn into three sections and stored for over a century prior to joining the NMM’s collection on long-term loan in 1951.
BRITANNIA’S HOMECOMING
The tradition of royal processions and receptions on the Thames continued into the present reign, with the Queen’s homecoming at the end of a six-month tour of the Commonwealth in 1954. HM Yacht Britannia had not been completed when the tour commenced in November 1953, so the Admiralty chartered the 16,000- ton liner Gothic to act as a temporary royal yacht. She was relieved by Britannia for the voyage home from the Mediterranean to the Pool of London in May 1954. Escorted by four fast patrol boats, Britannia made her way up the Thames for the first time on the morning of 15 May 1954. Ship’s sirens, cheering crowds and church bells acknowledged the approaching monarch. As the yacht passed the Royal Naval College Greenwich, officers and staff lined its terrace and gave three cheers. This was typical of the enthusiastic welcome experienced that day, as Britannia’s then-Commander, Captain Dalglish, recalled. “Every bit of land we passed was crowded with people, and we must have seen millions that day; hundreds of boats crammed to the gunwales; everyone cheering and waving; sirens hooting and general noise.” The designer of Britannia’s royal apartments, Sir Hugh Casson, who had joined the yacht in the Solent on the previous day, continued: “By Greenwich, the entourage kept more in the background to avoid confusing the crowds. The Queen and Prince Philip disappeared for good to the top platform. The noise was by then deafening – almost impossible to speak on the upper deck. Two men in trilby hats boiling shrimps in a small boat took a few moments to give us a wave. I continually crossed from port to starboard in fear of
50 CLASSIC BOAT JUNE 2012
missing something. The Swedish liner Orcades, crammed to the davits, Finnish timber boats, gas colliers, the occasional change of note in cheering indicated convoys of flag-waving children. The whole experience was at once deeply moving, and yet I felt completely detached and dreamlike. I then retired inside for the final dramatic moments of passing through Tower Bridge, which spelt out the words “Welcome Home”. The Lord Mayor was visible in an open boat, with upturned oars and fur hat upraised in greeting. The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret were just visible on the landing stage. I particularly remember Vivian Dunn, principal director of music of the Royal Marines conducting the Royal Yacht Band, played ‘Rule Britannia’ as we passed under Tower Bridge.” At that moment the cranes lowered their jibs in salute to the new yacht before she moored to a pair of nearby buoys. The arrival of Britannia in the Pool of London provided the perfect finale to the Queen’s first major overseas tour and made her the first reigning British monarch to circumnavigate the world. Before disembarking, she knighted the yacht’s commanding officer, Vice Admiral Abel Smith, with his own sword in the royal dining room.
During her 44 years of active service, Britannia returned to the Thames several times for major occasions, including Princess Margaret’s wedding in 1960, the royal river progress to mark the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 and the 50th anniversary of VJ Day in 1995. The Thames also provided the perfect setting for the beginning of Britannia’s final voyage under her own power on 21 November 1997. That evening a dramatic thunderstorm struck the capital as the crowds and media gathered along the Embankment. At 5.30pm, the 412ft (126m) paying-off pennant was hoisted at the mainmast as the floodlit royal yacht slipped her moorings and passed under Tower Bridge, bound for the South Coast. Even though it was the end of November, a large number of private boats turned out the next morning to give Britannia a superb aquatic welcome as she returned to Portsmouth for the very last time.
IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM
NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100