Thursday April 20, 2023
The first lecture was Stephen Payne, QM2 designer, talking about HMY Britania. It was really fun to hear all about it and see his pictures as we had been at a reception in the Royal lounge and formal black tie dinner in the State Dining Room just a few months ago, last November. It brought back a lot of terrific memories. A few statistics – Length – 412ft 3 ins; Beam 55 Ft; Draught 15 Ft 9 ins; Displacement (Weight) 4,715 tons; Gross Tonnage (internal space with 1 ton equivalent to 100 Sq Ft) 5,769 or 1/26 the size of Queen Mary 2; Power 26,000 Shp; Speed 22.75 Knots; Range 2,000 Num at 20 Knots; Cost £2,098,000; nMiles steamed 1,087,623, in service 43 years and 334 days; 968 Port visits; 21 Officers headed by an Admiral; 250 Royal Yachtsmen; can accommodate 250 day guests; 56 State dinner guests and up to 200 patients as it was made with the idea that if there was a war, it could be used as a hospital ship. There were a total of 85 full State visits (2 per year on average) and when the Royal State visits were undertaken there was 5 tons of luggage and 45 Royal household staff. The Queen made 162 non State visits and 90 Commonwealth visits; with other Royals making 226 Non Commonwealth and 133 Commonwealth visits and 8 Fleet reviews. He indicated that he is working hard to develop a replacement and there have been various designs, his is like a mini QM2, and is trying to “sell” it to the government not as a Royal Ship but as a UK Flagship that can be used for Commerce and indeed pay for itself in the business it brings to the UK. It is estimated that HMY Britania brought some £4 Billion in trade and economic benefit to Britain during it’s service. As was often said, when a deal was discussed on the Yacht, it was virtually always a reality as those attending were struck by the majestic presence of the vessel.
The only other talk was an interview by Neil Kelly of Naga Munchetty the presenter of BBC Breakfast. She spoke eloquently about her upbringing with Malaysian and Indian parents and a relatively poor background. However, her ambition to succeed, drove her first into radio then TV producing and now not only on TV but also has an in depth radio interview program. She also spoke of her passion for golf now at a 7 handicap.
During the afternoon, we went through UK Immigration, and attended the last of the World Voyage Captain Cocktail Parties, where we had a fun time talking with the Deputy Captain – Matthew Nicholls – who will soon be taking over as Deputy Captain of Queen Anne, the new ship. The big excitement however was the entertainer for the party, the Singer Alfie Boe (Alfred Giovanni Roncalli Boe OBE) (www.alfie-Boe.com). He is a very famous UK singer born in Blackpool, Lancashire on September 29, 1973, of Irish and Norwegian descent, started out as a car mechanic and was plucked out of obscurity by a customer who heard him singing opera to his fellow mechanics, as he has an amazing voice that transcends Opera, to popular music, to Broadway musicals. He was trained in the Royal College of Music, the National Opera Studio and perhaps his most famous role was that of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. We were luckily in the front of the crowd so were just a few feet away and were amazed at his vocal prowess. We look forward to his concert tomorrow. The evening performance was the very good Rock Band – The Bluejays who sung a nice selection of 1960’s music originated by Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Eddie Corcoran, Cliff Richard among others.
Roger & Anne Travels 