HMY Victoria and Albert (1899)

HMY Victoria and Albert

HMY Victoria and Albert (1899)

Sailing Ship Collection of Paintings

Royal yacht HMY Victoria and Albert, the third ship of the Royal Navy  to carry the name, was built in 1899 in Pembroke Dock, Wales. She was commissioned at Portsmouth shortly after Queen Victoria’s death in 1901, becoming the official royal yacht of King Edward VII.
A beautiful ship, the splendor of her elegant lines and opulent furnishings provided a regal presence to many royal occasions and regattas across Europe. King Edward VII was known to have frequently traveled to European countries during the summer months on board the royal yacht.

As the largest and most magnificent royal yacht in Europe, Victoria and Albert III served three monarchs, (four if you count the brief reign of King Edward VIII). she carried King George V and Queen Mary at the Jubilee Review of 1935, then, in 1937, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at the Coronation Fleet Review. Elizabeth, the future Queen of England, age 11, was also present. Although not the largest review, it did in technological terms represent the peak of British Naval power.
However the Coronation Fleet Review of 1937 was to be  HMY Victoria and Albert’s last fleet review. In 1939 at the brink of World War II she was decommissioned.
In 1954 she was broken up and replaced by royal yacht HMY Britannia.

She is depicted in this painting performing her royal duties in the mid 1930’s during a review of the British Fleet in the Solent. On her port quarter are Queen Elizabeth class battleships, and on her starboard are anchored the battle cruisers HMS Repulse and HMS Hood.

Outstanding selection of captioned photographs of HMY Victoria and Albert (1899)