''Amazon'' is a long screw schooner and former

steam yacht A steam yacht is a class of luxury or commercial yacht with primary or secondary steam propulsion in addition to the sails usually carried by yachts. Origin of the name The English steamboat entrepreneur George Dodd (1783–1827) used the term ...

built in 1885 at the private Arrow Yard of Tankerville Chamberlayne in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. Designer Dixon Kemp intended her to be 'fast and a good seaboat' and her successful sea trials were recorded in the several editions of his definitive ''Yacht Architecture'' ( First Edition published in 1885). In 2011, ''Amazon'' was listed as one of the world's Top 40 Classic Yachts and was the oldest vessel honoured.

Construction

Carvel planked in

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...

and pitch pine on oak frames, with alternate

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

strap floor reinforcement, bronze fastenings, lead

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

and

copper sheathing Copper sheathing is the practice of protecting the under-water hull of a ship or boat from the corrosive effects of salt water and biofouling through the use of copper plates affixed to the outside of the hull. It was pioneered and developed by ...

, the ''Amazon''s hull is still largely original.

History

Her builder and first owner, Tankerville Chamberlayne, an English gentleman, personally supervised her construction by his own Arrow Yard at Northam on the River Itchen. This small private facility was established by the Chamberlayne family for the maintenance of the famous cutter ''Arrow'', which was adapted continuously and thereby kept racing competitively into the 1890s. ''Amazon''s engine and boiler were supplied by the adjacent works of Day, Summers and Company. ''Amazon'' was used for summer cruising, to attend sailing

regattas Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other water ...

along the south coast of England, and to visit France. Having been prepared appropriately for the occasion of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

Diamond Jubilee A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th anniver ...

Royal Fleet Review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...

in 1897 (at which ''

Turbinia ''Turbinia'' was the first steam turbine-powered steamship. Built as an experimental vessel in 1894, and easily the fastest ship in the world at that time, ''Turbinia'' was demonstrated dramatically at the Spithead Navy Review in 1897 and set ...

'' made her debut), she was shortly after sold to a prominent French yachtsman and was based at

Saint Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

as ''Armoricain'' until 1900, when she returned to British ownership. Already too old (and with a coal-fired compound engine thought to be rather too old-fashioned) for the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she remained in south coast ports as a private yacht. A new owner took her to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and after 52 years of service her original engine and boiler were removed on her conversion to diesel in 1937. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

put paid to pleasure cruising and she subsequently became a houseboat for some years in a west London Yacht Basin. The actor Arthur Lowe bought her as a houseboat in 1968 and, encouraged by his surveyor's positive report, made her ready for sea again in 1971; at first a private yacht she then pursued a successful charter business in the 1980s, before migrating to northern

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in 1990. In 1997 she made passage from Scotland to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, where her new owners used her for cruising in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

. In 2009 ''Amazon'' crossed the Atlantic Ocean via the Cape Verde Islands and travelled in the Caribbean and to

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''Amazon'' arrived at

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

, United States from Bermuda on Labor Day 2009. ''Amazon'' was hosted by the Herreshoff Marine Museum at

Bristol, Rhode Island Bristol is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, US as well as the historic county seat. The town is built on the traditional territories of the Pokanoket Wampanoag. It is a deep water seaport named after Bristol, England. The population of ...

in October 2009. She spent time in Narragansett Bay. The yacht subsequently travelled to

Mystic Seaport Mystic Seaport Museum or Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea in Mystic, Connecticut is the largest maritime museum in the United States. It is notable for its collection of sailing ships and boats and for the re-creation of the cra ...

in late 2009 and was based there in early 2011. ''Amazon'' remained at Mystic Seaport until mid-2011. ''Amazon'' was flagship for the commodore of the Mystic River Yacht Club for a charity regatta in Long Island Sound in June 2011 and visited

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in July 2011 In August 2011 the yacht made a trans-Atlantic passage from Newfoundland to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and arrived at

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on 2 September 2011 where she was described by a local boat owner as the ''"classiest motor boat I have ever seen!"''. She remained at Waterford for the winter. In May 2012 she visited

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

before sailing to London, where she took part in the

Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant was a parade on 3 June 2012 of 670 boats on the Tideway of the River Thames in London as part of the celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The Queen, Prince Philip and other members of th ...

on Sunday 3 June 2012. She was the only vessel present that had also witnessed the Diamond Jubilee Fleet Review for Queen Victoria at Spithead on 26 June 1897. The Director of

National Historic Ships National Historic Ships UK is a government-funded independent organisation that advises UK governments and others on matters relating to historic ships.

referred to her in his public letter of criticism concerning the

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...

Construction

History

References