ROYAL PALACES AT SEA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 5 August 1907, Page 4

ROYAL PALACES AT SEA.

HUVATR VESSELS OF TliE SOVEKEWNS OF EUROPE. London, June li. 'I he launch of his .Majesty's new yacht, Alexandra, at Glasgow, by her Koyat Highness I'rinces.s Louise, Duchess of Argyll, marks another notch in Scotland's record as yacht-builder to the royalties of the world. The Alexandra is the lirst of the British vessels of this type to be built north of the Tweed; but Scotland can claim to have given ot the best her shipbuilders can provide lo the rulers of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Houmania and Siam, while in England yachts have been constructed for the Czar of Russia, the Emperor of Austria, the King of <;recce, and tht Sultan of I urkey. 1 here are altogether l.ventytwo of these vessels alloat, and the British Isles are responsible for fifteen of them, and Scotland eleven. tn point of size, the Alexandra —so named, of course, in honor of her Majesty the Queen-is by no means exceptional She is .'iOllft in length, and will displace about 2(1110 tons, which is less than half the.displacement of the German an:l Kussian Imperial yachts. In fact, her only exceptional feature will be found in her engine rooms, for. sine: l she is the first ship of her class to lie built since the advent of the turbine her immediate predecessor being (lie Victoria and Albert, designed in ISflfi—she is naturally the lirst to lie equipped with that, system of propulsjon. She will, nevertheless, have a very moderate speed, only seventeen knots being anticipated, which is lower than that I ( any other sea-going royal yacht in existence.

In former times, when even coast-wise trading vessels were compelled to carry guns for their protection against searovers, and when the Navy itself was largely composed of vessels pressed at need from the merchant marine, stiffened by a small number of regular craft, such ships of state as were built for princes were also constructed with a view to the probability of their having to bear the stress of battle. °

things ar<; different in the twentieth century, however, and nowadays those nations that can afford it provide their Sovereigns with craft built with a view solely to comfort and regal elegance. But with less happily situated nations the old system still prevails. Thus wo find that the King of Siani's yacht is at the same time the only cruiser in his navy. She is the Mnha Chakrki a vesof 2301) tons displacement, built at faith in 1802, and carrying an armament of twenty guns. The Roumanian navy boasts one cruiser, but the royal yacht Carlo T. is nearly double the s'izc of the fighting ship, and was built at Fairfield in 1808.

Ihe little State of Montenegro, however. is the most unhappily placed of any, lor she luis but one little vessel of 140 tons, the Zmdy (sic), to discharge any and every duty that may happen to come along. She is credited with a speed of 12 knots, and carries an armalinent of two 3-pounder quick-tiring guns, which, one may hope, for the sake of the honor of their flag, may never have to engage in more serious business than the tiring of salutes. Before we smile too broadly at the exigencies to which small States are driven, we should remember that we ourselves have sacrificed a serviceable warship oil the same altar of economy. The first-class battleship Renown has been fitted as an auxiliary royal yacht, and her secondary armament of Gins. guns removed, though she is still retained as an effective unit in the official lists.

The most extravagant of monarclis in the matter of sea-palaces is not, as one might suppose, the Cerman Emperor, but the Czar of Russia, who owns no fewer than live steam yachts. The principal ot them is, of course, the Standart, the largest of all its type, and verisimilar in ap|N'nranee to that Victoria and Albert (for (here are two of that name) which was built in the closing years of the reign of Queen Victoria. She is SoGO tons displacement, and has three small steam cutters in constant attendance on her.

Then there are the I'olarnaia Sviezda, built originally as a 3tloo-ton cruiser: (he Alexandria, a paddle steamer specially constructed for service on the Neva, on whose banks is situated the finest of the Imperial palaces!: and two othei smaller vessels which the Czar uses for short journeys—the Tsarevna and toe Marovo.

Of nil lliu floating palaces possessed I '.v lonian potentates, nolle is more iamiliar to English eyes than the llolien/.olleni, in wiiieh the German Emperor .makes hi, periodical—ami olteu sensa- ' ioual- vo\ages abroad. She is a splen-did-looking vessel, with ail the appearance of a formidable coinmercc-deslroy-er, and a close resemblance to the United Stated cruiser .Minneapolis, •which was built expressly to fill that role. Huilt at Stettin in ISM, slit: is 380 ft long, has a displacement of over -1000 tons, and can attain a speed of 22 knots; but it is said the Kaiser is tired of her, and that before the end of the year another will be put in hand. When the Kaiser accompanies his war fleet to sea he flies the Imperial Hag in the battleship named after himself, the Kaiser Wilhelm If., which was specially constructed with that idea in view.

His Majesty has also two small craft, the Ivaiseradler, which was the Bohenzollern before the present vessel of that name was built, and the Alice Roosevelt, which, It will be remembered, was presented to him by the United States after "I'vincess Alice's" famous world tour. Whether the donors anticipated that Mich a use would I made of the little vessel is not known, hut she is at present serving as a divisional torpedo boat at Willudmsliaven.

King Alfonso's yacht, the Oiralda, was perhaps better known as the property of Mr Hugh McCalmont. for whom she was constructed, in Scotland, at a cost of £SD,OOO, and who sold her in IS9B to the Spanish Government. Italy made a somewhat similar deal in 18S7. purchasing the Scotch-built America from the National Steamship Line. She has now been fitted out as a royal yacht to replace the Savoia, which, in tiirn, has been converted into a fleet auxiliary. France and the United tSates. being Republics. do not. of course, provide ~i"'li frivoltii's yacht For the heads of the realm: but since they have specially to tit. out a lighting ship when any state affair beyond their coasts has to'be attended, their policy cannot, after all, be very much elioaper.