Royal visitor generates much excitement in Melbourne

Royal visitor generates much excitement in Melbourne

The Games of the XVI Olympiad in Melbourne, the first Games to be held in the southern hemisphere, was a time of great excitement. One of the highlights was the official opening of the Games by HRH Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh. Although he arrived in Melbourne by air, his home while here was aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia.

At that time, before the building of the Charles Grimes Bridge, ships could come up the Yarra to berth close to the Spencer Street Bridge, and a crowd of several hundred people watched the Royal Yacht as she came to her mooring at No. 1 North Wharf on the morning of November 29, 1956. After the closing of the Games and the departure of the Duke – again by air – Britannia left her berth bound for Lyttleton, NZ.

Britannia was a very beautiful ship with graceful lines and was enjoyed by Queen Elizabeth II on many occasions as a comfortable home away from home. She was to be the last of a long line of more than 80 Royal Yachts since 1660. When being designed, provision was made for her to be converted into a hospital ship in wartime and, in the event of a nuclear war, to be a place of refuge for the Queen and Duke. It was intended that Britannia would remain at sea off the northwest coast of Scotland.

Built in Scotland, she was launched by the Queen in April 1953 and commissioned the following January. On her maiden voyage in April 1954 she carried Prince Charles and Princess Anne, both small children at the time, to meet their parents in Malta at the end of the first Commonwealth tour made by the Royal couple.

During her 40 years of service, Britannia made nearly 700 visits to foreign countries and made 272 official visits to ports in the UK, steaming 2,014,278km. In 1994 the British Government announced the yacht would be retired because of the expenses involved in maintaining and operating her. She is now permanently moored in Leith, Scotland, where she is a very popular tourist attraction.

MAURIE HUTCHINSON President, Peninsula Ship Society

T: 9787 5780 E: mauriehutch@gmail.com