THE STEAM YACHT
That the steamship should become for the sportsman what for some time
the sailing vessel had been was a natural prophecy. Even if steam
were not to oust the simpler craft, at least both might sail the seas
together without let or hindrance. But, of course, the old prejudice
asserted itself again in yachting just as we have so frequently through
the pages of this book seen that it did in the evolution of the purely
commercial and experimental ships.
The pioneer of the steam yacht was undoubtedly the late Mr. Assheton
Smith, of Tedworth, near Andover. A man of substantial means, a keen
sportsman, who was well-known among both hunting and yachting men, he
was rather more far-sighted than his contemporaries, and considerably
less prejudiced. He had owned a number of sailing yachts, was a
member of the Royal Yacht Squadron, and had it in mind to extend the
encouragement of the sport also to vessels using steam. But to the
select and conservative minds of the Royal Yacht Squadron this was by
no means a happy suggestion, and they promptly showed their resentment
by passing a resolution on May 5th, 1827, to the effect that since a
material object of the club was to promote seamanship and improvements
of sailing vessels to which the application of steam-engines was
inimical, no vessel propelled by steam should be admitted into the
club, and that any member applying a steam engine to his yacht
should cease to be a member. As the late Mr. Montague Guest, in his
history of the Royal Yacht Squadron, remarked, this prejudice was no
doubt caused by the objectionable vomits of smoke which contemporary
steamers in that locality were wont to emit, so that the fair shores
of Southampton Water were polluted, and distant objects completely
obscured. Smith was taunted with the remark that in wishing to
introduce the steam yacht he was intending to make a connection between
business and pleasure, and this insult stung him so severely that he
eventually resigned his membership.
In August of 1827, the Northern Yacht Club offered at their regatta
a twenty guinea cup, to be awarded to the swiftest steamboat, and so
far as I am able to ascertain this was the first occasion when steam
craft ever raced against each other under such conditions. Several
steam vessel owners sent in their entries for the race, and after an
exciting contest for three hours round a marked course, a paddle-ship,
named the _Clarence_, won. This is especially interesting, inasmuch
as that boat had been engined by the famous Robert Napier to whom we
referred earlier in this book, and in more ways than one this success
led to considerable success. The incident attracted the attention of
Assheton Smith, who, although he was then fifty years old, was fired
with enthusiasm over the possibilities of the new sport. He had already
had five sailing yachts built for him, and after resigning from the
Royal Yacht Squadron, wrote to Napier asking him to come south to
his place near Andover. Neither had met before, and the upshot of
the northerner’s visit was that he was commissioned to build a steam
yacht, the cost of which came to £20,000, Napier being given a free
hand in regard to her entire construction. A recent writer has seen fit
to remark that “no account exists of the first steam yacht built by
Mr. Smith,” so that it may be worth while to add that this vessel was
named the _Menai_, that she was built in the year 1830 and delivered
at Bristol. She measured 120 feet long and 20 feet wide, her tonnage
being 230, and her nominal horse-power 110. She was, of course, a
paddle-wheel craft and driven by Napier’s double side-lever engines, of
which we have already explained the detailed working. Those who wish to
see what this first historic steam yacht was like can examine a model
of her in the Glasgow Art Galleries.
The _Menai_ turned out a great success, and so pleased was her owner,
that he commissioned Napier to build him another boat, which was named
the _Glowworm_, a vessel of 300 tons and 100 horse-power. She was
made ready by 1838. Until Smith was eighty years old the connection
thus formed between the two men was continued, and during the period
of twenty or thirty years Napier built quite a fleet of steam yachts
for his patron. The _Glowworm_ was followed by the _Fire King_ in
1839--this being a 700-ton ship and the biggest of them all. Afterwards
came at different dates three _Fire Queens_ (in honour of Queen
Victoria, who had come to the throne since the first steam yacht had
been launched), the _Jenny Lind_, and the _Sea Serpent_; the latter
about 1851. The _Fire King_ was designed with hollow water-lines, and
was a vessel possessing considerable speed. Before her trials were
run, Smith issued a public challenge in _Bell’s Life_ that she would
run against any steamer then afloat, from Dover Pier to the Eddystone
Lighthouse and back, for 5,000 guineas, or even higher stakes if
desired. One of the three _Fire Queens_ was the fastest vessel of any
kind at that time, and possessed the exceptional speed of 16 knots.
This was the third vessel of that name, and was built in 1846, her
tonnage being 300 and her horse-power 120. She was driven by steeple
engines which actuated a screw, and the Admiralty thought so much of
her that they purchased her as a packet. Smith, however, did not like
the screw, and his next ship reverted to the use of paddle-wheels.
In 1844 the Royal Yacht Squadron began to climb down gradually from
their haughty position of serene isolation, for in that year they
showed some slight recognition of the steam yacht by resolving that “no
steamer of less than 100 horse-power should be qualified for admission
into, or entitled to the privileges of the Squadron,” and in 1853 the
last objection to the steam yacht was withdrawn by the rescinding of
all rules which prohibited her use. Thereupon a number of the Royal
Squadron members had auxiliary engines fitted to their sailing craft,
but by 1856 there were not more than a score of steam-engined yachts
as against seven or eight hundred sailing ones. In 1868 a unique race,
which excited some derision at the time, was run between Lord Vane’s
steam yacht _Cornelia_ and Mr. Talbot’s _Eothen_. During the early
’eighties many of the non-racing yachts flying the Squadron’s colours,
and used solely for cruising, were either purely steam or auxiliary
steam yachts. By 1883, out of 2,000 yachts no fewer than 700 were
steam, which had cost originally two and a half millions sterling. To
such an extent had this new development of the sport gone ahead that
it was even seriously suggested by the _Field_ that ordinary cruising
would be extinguished by the steam yacht. During the ’eighties the
number of English steam yachts multiplied in all parts of the Kingdom
owing to several causes. The improvements which had been going on,
as well in the making of marine engines as in yacht building and
designing, were assisted by the more economical consumption of coal
which was now possible. But the sport of steam-yachting is entirely,
by reason of its nature and its costliness, confined to the rich
man. Apart altogether from the advantages which steam gives in that
it renders the yacht independent of calms and tides, yet it carries
with it especially a social feature. The influence of Cowes week, the
dispensing of hospitality, and the privilege of enjoying a floating
home anything but bereft of the highest comfort, must be reckoned as
among the potent factors of an extent equal to, if not greater than,
the sheer delight of voyaging from one port to another. Many steam
yachts spend their time within the comparatively sheltered waters of
the south coast of England, or the west coast of Scotland, perhaps
running out to the Riviera in December or January. But a few, such as
Lord Brassey’s celebrated _Sunbeam_, go round the world, penetrate to
the Arctic circle, cross the Atlantic, and go east through the Suez
Canal.
[Illustration: TYPICAL STEAM YACHT OF ABOUT 1890.
_By permission of “The Yachting Monthly.”_]
For a long time the steam yacht naturally enough retained most of the
features of the sailing yacht. I say naturally, not merely because
steam was still distrusted, and, therefore, canvas was retained,
but because beauty of form and symmetry are demanded more in the
steam yacht than in the steamship designed for commercial purposes.
For the creators of steam yachts were rather yacht-architects than
steamship-designers. We have only to quote the admirable work of such
men as St. Clare Byrne and G. L. Watson to emphasise this point.
Indeed, with the exception of the _Triad_, so recently added to the
fleet of steam yachts, and to which we shall refer fully in due course,
the lines and general appearance of the steam pleasure vessel is
far more “yachty” than perhaps one might have imagined would be the
case, having regard to the differences which have sprung up in the
appearance of the commercial steamship. The illustration on page 271,
which is typical of the steam yacht about the year 1890, shows how
markedly the influence of the clipper sailing ships of the ’sixties was
at work. The gilding at the bow, the figure-head, the fine entrance,
and the bowsprit have existed long after the latter was required
for setting a jib at the end of it. As a rule, the schooner rig has
prevailed, though some ocean-going steam yachts are rigged as barques,
ships, and barquentines. For long voyages between distant ports the
retention of the sail as a saving of the limited coal supply is but
natural, and also for the purpose of steadying the ship in a sea-way.
In the early days the steam yacht was usually of the type which has one
flush deck. But to-day she varies to the same extent as the sailing
yacht. Topgallant forecastles, quarter decks, bridge-houses, awning
decks, shade decks, spar decks, and many other features have been
added. Three masts have given way to two, and now only one is being
retained, and that merely for signalling purposes or for wireless
telegraphy. Formerly, the steam yacht was a long, narrow creation
carrying a considerable quantity of ballast, but to-day she is given
greater beam, and in many points is coming far more under the sway of
the ocean steamship than ever she has in the whole of her history.
The accommodation is being modified and improved, and the elemental
features are undergoing a change. Whereas the older types carried
their dining and drawing-rooms below, nowadays these, as well as the
state-rooms, are, whenever possible, placed on the main deck. Much more
room is afforded for promenade by the adding of deck upon deck, and
a noticeable characteristic of the modern steam yacht is the extent
to which the deck-house and pilot-house have been carried. Like their
bigger sisters, the steam yachts of to-day are fitted with every
thought for comfort. Electric light, refrigerating plant, exquisite
decorations, heating apparatus, search-lights, and a thousand other
details go to swell the long bill which has to be paid for the private
steamship.
The old square stern inherited from the Dutch, through the British
Navy of yesterday, and, finally, through the royal yachts, is modified
nowadays from a clumsiness to resemble more nearly the counter of
the smart sailing yacht. Ample overhang at bow and stern gives both
increased deck space and makes a drier ship, and at the bows this
additional room is advantageous for working the anchors. As compared
with the liner, the yacht has far more opportunities of showing what
a graceful creature the ship really is: for she has not to rush
across seas at break-neck speed, nor has she to waste her internal
space with accommodation for cargo and mails. She need not clutter up
her decks with clusters of derricks, but go about her easy work in
a quiet and dignified manner, not forgetting to look pretty all the
time. And yet she is able nowadays, by reason of her size, to carry
large enough quantities of water, coals and stores to last her for
lengthy voyages, independent of the shore. The question of speed is
subservient to fuel-endurance, and to get her owner and his guests to
their destination with the least degree of discomfort is of far greater
import than to set up new steaming records. She is a good sea-boat,
for she is not harassed by the limitations as to the distribution
of weights which have to be studied so closely in the case of the
liner. The single-screw is giving way to the twin-screw, and the
triple-expansion engine is usually adopted, with its absence of any
great vibration.
The steam yacht, has, however, found out the advantages of the turbine,
and the first to be fitted thus was the _Emerald_, built on the Clyde
in 1902 for Sir Christopher Furness. She has a Thames measurement
of 797, and is propelled by three separate propellers, with their
individual shafts actuated by three sets of turbine machinery. Her
speed is about 16 knots on an exceptionally low coal consumption,
and she showed her ability by crossing the Atlantic in the year
following her birth. The recent adaptation of the Parsons turbine for
moderate speeds, already discussed, will doubtless pave the way for a
much more general adoption of this form of propulsion in the yacht.
Otherwise speed in the steam yacht is a doubtful advantage, for with
reciprocating engines there is demanded a greater amount of space
which could be better used for extra cabin room. Water-ballast and
bilge-keels are used to a large extent, and steel has long since proved
its worth for the making of the hull as well as many other features of
the ship. Now that the engines of a steam yacht have proved themselves
to possess that reliability which was for a long time not conceded,
the need for sails, except for steadying the ship, or, as already
mentioned, for long ocean voyages, has disappeared. It is much more
common to see a steam yacht given the rig as seen in the illustration
on page 275, with stay-sails and try-sails, than the yards and
gaff-sails of yesterday. Indeed, one might go so far as to assert that
the retention of the two masts is based on appearance more than with a
view to utility.
[Illustration: A STEAM YACHT TO-DAY.
_By permission of “The Yachting Monthly.”_]
[Illustration: THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL YACHT “LIVADIA.”
_From the Model in the Victoria and Albert Museum._]
One of the most extraordinary steam yachts ever built was the
_Livadia_, of which a capital model is illustrated opposite page
276. She was built in 1880 by Messrs. John Elder & Co. for the
Russian Admiralty. Her unusual design was based on the idea of a
circular floating battery invented by John Elder in the ’sixties, and
reintroduced by Admiral Popoff ten years later. From a technical paper
read some years ago by her builder, we gather that she was constructed
in accordance with Admiral Popoff’s designs to give 14 knots per
hour. In case of her failing to come up to the required standard,
the Russian Admiralty were to be allowed to reject her. Previous to
her actual building, elaborate experiments took place with a model,
and both before and after the appearance of the ship she was subject
to considerable criticism, some of which, no doubt, was owing to the
radical departure from accepted custom. Her builder described her as
being turbot-shaped with a super-structure which contained the Imperial
apartments and the accommodation for suite and crew. After her trials,
she sailed from the Clyde to Brest in fine weather. Thence she crossed
the Bay of Biscay, and the bad weather which had sprung up increased to
a gale of exceptional violence, which also afforded the most conclusive
test for her steadiness. It was found that she was wonderfully endowed
with the latter virtue, and that although she had been designed for
service on the Black Sea, she was able to take the seas of the Bay in
a most satisfactory manner. The height of the waves was adjudged by
the experts on board as being from twenty to twenty-five feet, but
the receding formation of the turbot had the effect of dividing the
wave against itself. In no case did the waves succeed in reaching the
keels of the ship’s boats hung in davits 22 feet above the load-line,
and although the table was loaded with candelabra and other easily
capsizable articles, the ship never lurched so as to send them moving.
It is true that when she put into Ferrol, owing to the exhaustion of
the crew, two of the thirty-seven cells on the external rim of the
turbot were damaged, yet this did not vitiate the general principle
of her construction. She was driven by three propellers and three
independent engines, and was easily handled. During the gale she
only required one man at the wheel. She displaced nearly 4,000 tons,
measured 235 feet in length, 153 feet in extreme width, and drew only
6½ feet.
Perhaps the one conspicuous example where the steam yacht has been
designed not by a yacht architect is in the case of the steam yachts
possessed by the Royalty of this land, and it is a matter of regret
that some of the worst and most old-fashioned traditions should be
perpetuated in what one would have expected to have been the most
up-to-date and efficient steam craft afloat. There has ever been
displayed in the royal steam yachts far more of the Admiralty influence
of yesterday than of the modern factors at work in yacht-design. Grace
and delicacy have been avoided for a kind of clumsy impressiveness, and
the worst features of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
naval architecture are retained with a surprising obstinacy. The
heavy quarters and counter, the tasteless display of external carving
and gold leaf have had to make a pretence of affording what should
have come spontaneously from the beauty of the vessel’s own lines.
The _Victoria and Albert_, launched a few years ago, is especially
expressive of the defects which she ought never to have exhibited. And
the latest English royal yacht which was launched in 1907, has but
little character that is superior to her predecessor. This _Alexandra_
will be seen at her trials in the illustration facing page 278. True,
the heavy quarters have been very much modified, but in any assemblage
of steam yachts or modern ocean-going steamships, she stands out less
owing to her inherent beauty, than for the impression of solidity
which she conveys. The _Alexandra_ has a registered tonnage of 2,157,
and is driven by three turbines.
[Illustration: THE ROYAL YACHT “VICTORIA AND ALBERT.”]
[Illustration: THE ROYAL YACHT “ALEXANDRA.”
_From a Photograph. By permission of Messrs. A. & J. Inglis, Ltd._]
The illustration of the _Sagitta_, facing page 280, is of particular
interest, for when she appeared in the summer of 1908, she was the
largest steam yacht ever built on the south coast. Constructed by
Messrs. Camper and Nicholson for the Duc de Valençay, she has a Thames
measurement tonnage of 757, and on her trials showed a speed of 15·2
knots, which was 2·2 knots above that contracted for. Steam yacht
building has more usually been the work of the northern yards. Two of
her features are especially noticeable as showing a divergence from the
stereotyped design of the steam yacht. Firstly, the three, and even
two, masts, have gone altogether, and only one is retained, in a most
unusual position, for signalling purposes. Secondly, her stern goes
right away from the accepted clipper-bow-plus-bowsprit end, although
the yacht-like overhanging counter is retained. In matters of this
nature personal taste will enter quite independent of the demands
put forward by naval architecture, but it can scarcely be said that
this hybrid arrangement makes for beauty, for the nice balance which
is so significant a feature of the ends of a yacht is here hardly
possible. Much more acceptable is the design of the _Triad_, which,
amid considerable adverse criticism for her originality, made her
appearance in the summer of 1909. An interesting photograph of this
novel yacht appears opposite page 280, but it conveys little idea
of her size. With her two funnels, her straight stern and modified
turtle-deck stern, she is a “whole-hogger” as compared with the
compromise which the _Sagitta_ represents. In the _Triad_ the steam
yacht breaks right away from accepted conditions and shows the first
real approach to the contemporary ocean-going steamship. To some
extent, no doubt, she exhibits some resemblance to the well-known
German Imperial steam yacht, the _Hohenzollern_, but she is rather a
deep-sea liner in miniature, capable of going anywhere, and performing
practically any service which could be asked of her. She has been built
on steamship lines by a firm which, I believe, had never previously
constructed a steam yacht. Her size of 1,416 tons would alone make her
interesting, but it is her business-like appearance which causes her
to be especially noticeable. Her stem has come in for a good deal of
criticism, some of which is doubtless justifiable, but not a little is
obviously based on the fact that convention was thrown aside. It is
claimed that the clipper-stem is not merely advantageous in regard to
looks, but besides giving increased deck space where it is needed to
work the anchors, permits of a generous amount of flare to protect the
fore decks from water coming aboard. The older form also provides a
useful “false” end in the case of a ship colliding, while, on the other
hand, the straight stem possesses considerable merits for docking and
berthing in a congested harbour.
The _Triad_ measures 250 feet long, between perpendiculars, and 35 feet
wide, and is equipped with twin-screw engines, which give her a speed
of 16 knots. She has two double-ended boilers, and one auxiliary boiler
for driving the electric installation when in port. Some of her minor
features are sufficiently unusual to merit remark. Thus, for instance,
the windlass on her forecastle is fitted with a special indicator which
shows the amount of cable run out, and an arrangement something similar
in principle to that mentioned as existing on liners is installed,
whereby the engineer cannot easily make a mistake in carrying out
the captain’s orders from the bridge. If the engines are going ahead
the captain knows this by an electric lamp which shows red; if they
are going astern the lamp shows green, the movement of the engines
themselves indicating automatically. In matters of personal comfort
this miniature liner is amply fitted. Besides the usual accommodation,
she has dining-room, drawing-room, music-room, maids’ room and ample
bedrooms, all upholstered and furnished with due regard to modern
luxury.
It would be impossible within the limits of our subject to refer in
detail to all those magnificent stately steam yachts which are afloat
in European and American waters. Such vessels as the _Vanadis_, with
her 1,233 tons (Thames measurement), triple-screws and triple turbines
built in 1908; the well-known _Ioland_, built for Mr. Morton F. Plant
of New York, by a Scotch firm; the _Wakiva_, twin-screw steam yacht,
the _Lysistrata_, the _Liberty_, are representative of the magnificent
fleet which has come into being so speedily, in spite of the chilly
reception and opposition which greeted the steam yacht during the
first half of the past century. The _Liberty_, something of whose
internal comfort we shall show in another chapter, is of 1,571 tons,
was launched in December of 1907, and is one of the most notable
productions of recent years. She is spar-decked throughout, with
magnificent lines and a handsome appearance, whilst retaining the more
conventional stem-plus-bowsprit. She has exceptional accommodation,
all connected by corridors and vestibules with no fewer than a dozen
state-rooms for guests. She is driven by two sets of triple-expansion
engines actuating twin-screws, which, to minimise vibration, are at a
different pitch, and run at varying speeds. She can carry sufficient
coal to allow her to cruise for 6,000 miles, and both in internal and
external appearance is as handsome as she is capable.
[Illustration: THE S.Y. “SAGITTA.”
_From a Photograph. By permission of Messrs. Camper & Nicholson, Ltd._]
[Illustration: THE S.Y. “TRIAD.”
_From a Photograph. By permission of the Caledon Shipbuilding Co.,
Ltd._]
With the capabilities of which the motor has shown itself to be
possessed, the future of the steam yacht is perhaps a little uncertain.
Economy would seem to indicate that the former has numerous merits
in that it enables sail power to be utilised more readily, and thus
may arrest the fashion which is advancing in the direction of steam.
For long passages the extreme comfort which is now obtainable in the
modern liner leaves no choice in the matter. To keep up a steam yacht
for the usual summer season of four months is a very serious item
of expenditure. If we reckon £10 per ton as the average cost--and
this is the accepted estimate--it will be seen that such a yacht as
the _Wakiva_, for instance, leaves but little change out of £10,000
per year, and for this expenditure most men would expect to get a
very large return in the way of sport and travel. Whether or not a
like proportionate return is made, at least in giving employment to
thousands of shipbuilding and yacht-hands, this special branch of sea
sport is deserving of the high interest with which it is regarded.