Battleship Yachts - Pre-Dreadnought to Vanguard

Battleship Yachts. It's, admittedly, not the kind of thing that comes to mind. Especially if you're looking in from a country that doesn't have a royal family. Nonetheless, it did happen. In today's video, we'll be looking at two examples from the different sides of the spectrum.

An early battleship, in the form of HMS Renown. No, not *that* one, although the battlecruiser also saw use as a royal yacht.

And the final British battleship, in the form of HMS Vanguard. A ship that is always going to be known for her stint as a yacht, for better or worse.

And, yes, this is a redux version of one of my earliest videos.

Further Reading:

[skyneahistory]

I should note: I didn’t forget about other examples, like Iowa (although not a *Royal* Yacht there) or Hiei.

But my intention here was for a short reprise of an old video. In addition, this is as much a direct ‘here’s one of the first, and here’s one of the last’ kind of things.

Renown and Vanguard are two sides of the coin, as it were. Seemed fitting.

[alephalon]

There's definitely a humorous allure to using one of your navy's most powerful warships as a seagoing stretch limo.

[AstraArtsTM]

You are super underrated, Keep up the good work

[phaasch]

It does seem incredible that Vanguard was used as a royal yacht, considering that in 1947, Britain was virtually bankrupt. Its one hell of a deployment of assets.
Renown, i have to say, does look particularly handsome in that róle. It must have appeared like a knock-off of the Great White Fleet at the time!

[lt.petemaverickmitchell]

What a DREAM to cruise around in a battle wagon just for fun!
My choice would be cutting through the waves in Big Whisky, USS Wisconsin at 35 knots!😁

[laudennis]

Hiei in the IJN also served as emperor's ship during her demilitarise age. Taking the emperor to research marine biology weird enough

[PurpleRhymesWithOrange]

I don't find massive battleships being used are royal yachts at all strange. It was still during the colonialism and "The sun never sets on the British Empire"; in that mind frame I can see why the British government felt it appropriate to have a massive warship bring royalty to some of its colonies as a show of prestige and power in a single package (regardless of how wasteful).

[PurpleRhymesWithOrange]

Cool. A bit of naval history I was previously not aware of.

[josteinsivertsen]

In Norway, the coastal defence battleships, Norge (pronounced nårge (sharp G and an e), and Eidsvold, plus the S- class destroyer Stord (UK emergency S-class), was used as Royal Yacht from 1905 to 1949.

[cdfe]

A battleship for the royal yacht? Imagine what that must have done for Kaiser Willie’s inferiority complex when he heard about it!

[charlesmaurer]

The one you criminally missed is the USS IOWA that served FDR as a Presidential Yacht to military meetings with Churchill and Stalin. Still fully a Battleship but one with an added hot tub for the President.

[johncook]

As the last British battle ship she should have been saved for the nation!
It is a disgrace that the country doesn't have a British battle ship in preservation.
The only British battle ship left is a pre dreadnought in Japan.

[tillman]

I'm liking, subbing and writing a comment.!

[donaldhill]

In the age of sail, it was quite common for the largest ship in a given navy to serve as a Royal yacht although I don’t think they called them yachts.

[coling]

Using a battleship made good sense, large spacious vessel. Flying the flag for Britain around the Empire and so on.

Ppl were used to seeing Royal Navy all over the Empire. Including battleships.
If the Prince of Wales ( who went on world tour on Hood in the 1920's) or the King himself were on tour, then pol would be surprised at anything less.