Rover (yacht): Difference between revisions
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== Later career == |
== Later career == |
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After Lord Inchcape's death aboard the ''Rover'' in [[Monte Carlo]] |
After Lord Inchcape's death aboard the ''Rover'' in [[Monte Carlo|Monte Carlo's]] [[Port Hercules]] harbour on 23{{nbsp}}May 1932,<ref>{{cite news |title=Lord Inchcape |work=Hartlepool mail|date=24 May 1932 |access-date=23 September 2014 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000378/19320524/106/0004| publisher = [[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription }}</ref> rumours circulated that the [[Aga Khan III|Aga Khan]] would buy the yacht,<ref>{{cite news |title=Aga Khan to Buy Inchcape Yacht? |work=Edinburgh Evening News|date=1 July 1932 |access-date=23 September 2014 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000452/19320701/069/0007| publisher = [[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription }}</ref> while a rumoured deal with King [[Carol II of Romania]] also fell through.<ref name=MotorBoating>{{cite journal |last=Wisner|first=Bill |date= December 1975|title=The Golden Age of Yachts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RnSxbgpkVWoC&pg=PA27 |journal= Motor Boating |access-date=23 September 2014}}</ref> However, a year later she was bought, unseen, by American businessman [[Howard Hughes]] and renamed ''Southern Cross''.<ref name=ST211233 /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cat.stparchive.com/Archive/CAT/CAT07051933P06.php|title=Film Producer Buys Yacht|publisher=The [[Catalina Islander]]|location=Avalon, California|date=5 July 1933|access-date=24 September 2014}}</ref> She was subsequently sold to Swedish entrepreneur [[Axel Wenner-Gren]], under whose ownership she helped rescue survivors from the {{SS|Athenia|1922|6}}, the first ship to be sunk by [[Nazi Germany]] during [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Francis Carroll|title=Athenia Torpedoed: The U-Boat Attack that Ignited the Battle of the Atlantic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4jo00zi_dTcC|date=2012|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-1-61251-155-9|page=65}}</ref> |
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The vessel subsequently served in the [[Mexican Navy]] as ''Orizaba'' until she was scrapped around 1960.<ref name=MotorBoating /> |
The vessel subsequently served in the [[Mexican Navy]] as ''Orizaba'' until she was scrapped around 1960.<ref name=MotorBoating /> |
Revision as of 20:05, 24 March 2024
History | |
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Name | Rover |
Builder | Alexander Stephen and Sons, River Clyde, Scotland, UK |
Renamed | Southern Cross, Orizaba (1939) |
Fate | Scrapped c. 1960 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Steam yacht |
Tonnage | 2,115 Thames Measurement[1] |
Length | 266 ft 5 in (81.20 m) |
Beam | 40 ft 4 in (12.3 m) |
Draught | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
Installed power | 3,000 shp (2,200 kW) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h) |
The Rover was a steam-powered yacht built in 1930 by Alexander Stephen and Sons in Glasgow, Scotland for Lord Inchcape, then chairman of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O). Built as Stephen's Yard No. 527, she was 265 feet 5 inches (80.90 m) long with a beam of 40 feet 1 inch (12.22 m) and a tonnage of 2,115, and was considered "the most luxurious ever built on the Clyde".[2]
Description
The yacht's figurehead was a likeness of Lord Inchcape's daughter, Elsie Mackay, who disappeared whilst attempting to fly the Atlantic in 1928.[3] With accommodation for up to 14 guests, the yacht was painted green and white at launch with a predominantly silver-coloured dining room.[4]
The Rover's staterooms featured en-suite marbled bathrooms. Dancing and games were staged on the open decks. Long-distance fuel tanks permitted long round-the-world voyages. During Cowes Week in August 1930, she was visited by the then King George V and Queen Mary.[5]
Later career
After Lord Inchcape's death aboard the Rover in Monte Carlo's Port Hercules harbour on 23 May 1932,[6] rumours circulated that the Aga Khan would buy the yacht,[7] while a rumoured deal with King Carol II of Romania also fell through.[8] However, a year later she was bought, unseen, by American businessman Howard Hughes and renamed Southern Cross.[2][9] She was subsequently sold to Swedish entrepreneur Axel Wenner-Gren, under whose ownership she helped rescue survivors from the SS Athenia, the first ship to be sunk by Nazi Germany during World War II.[10]
The vessel subsequently served in the Mexican Navy as Orizaba until she was scrapped around 1960.[8]
References
- ^ A Shipbuilding History. 1750-1932 (Alexander Stephen and Sons): Chapter 10
- ^ a b "Lord Inchcape's Yacht Bought By American". The Straits Times. Singapore Government. 21 December 1933. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- ^ "Lord Inchcape's Yacht Sold". Dundee Courier. British Newspaper Archive. 3 January 1933. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- ^ "Lord Inchcape's New Yacht". Portsmouth Evening News. British Newspaper Archive. 4 July 1930. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- ^ Stephen, Alexander, & Sons (1932). A Shipbuilding History, 1750-1932: A Record of the Business Founded, about 1750, by Alexander Stephen at Burghead, and Subsequently Carried on at Aberdeen, Arbroath, Dundee and Glasgow. A. Stephen & Sons Limited.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Lord Inchcape". Hartlepool mail. British Newspaper Archive. 24 May 1932. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- ^ "Aga Khan to Buy Inchcape Yacht?". Edinburgh Evening News. British Newspaper Archive. 1 July 1932. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- ^ a b Wisner, Bill (December 1975). "The Golden Age of Yachts". Motor Boating. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- ^ "Film Producer Buys Yacht". Avalon, California: The Catalina Islander. 5 July 1933. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
- ^ Francis Carroll (2012). Athenia Torpedoed: The U-Boat Attack that Ignited the Battle of the Atlantic. Naval Institute Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-61251-155-9.