MY ''Shemara'' is a

motor yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

built in 1938 by John I. Thornycroft & Company to the order of Bernard Docker. Between 1939 and 1946 she served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

as HMS ''Shemara''. , ''Shemara'' is owned by

Charles Dunstone Sir Charles William Dunstone ( ; born 21 November 1964) is the British co-founder and former chairman of mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse, former chairman of multinational electrical and telecommunications retailer and services company ...

, and is available for charter. She can carry 18 guests and 16 crew, is in length and in beam, and has a maximum speed of .

History

The English industrialist Bernard Docker commissioned John I. Thornycroft & Company to build a yacht to his specifications. The yacht was built at Thornycroft's yard at Woolston,

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. She was completed in 1938 and christened MY ''Shemara''. MY ''Shemara'' was requisitioned by the

at the start of the Second World War in 1939 and used as a training vessel for anti-submarine warfare. (See also Madiz, a similar super yacht that saw RN Service in WWII). It was during a training exercise with HMS ''Shemara'' that the submarine HMS ''Untamed'' was lost with all her crew. ''Shemara'' left Royal Navy service in 1946. Once returned to Docker's ownership, the ''Shemara'' became known for lavish parties with guests including King Farouk of Egypt. However, in 1965, Docker put her on the market for £600,000, and she was eventually sold to the property developer

Harry Hyams Harry John Hyams (2 January 1928 – 19 December 2015) was a British millionaire who initially made his money as a speculative property developer. He was best known as the developer of the Centre Point office building in London. Early life Hyam ...

for £290,000. Hyams used the ''Shemara'' on a number of

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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

cruises, but she was largely left laid up in

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

, and was not regularly used between the 1980s and 2010. In 2010 ''Shemara'' was bought by businessman

, and a project was started to return her to her former glory. In order to achieve this, a new company, Shemara Refit LLP, was created. The refit was completed in 2014, and the yacht now has a contemporary interior while retaining many of her historic original features, including as much of her original steel and teak as possible. The ship's machinery was completely replaced with a new

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

diesel-electric system comprising five main generators providing power for two electrically driven azimuthing pods and a

bow thruster Manoeuvering thrusters (bow thrusters and stern thrusters) are transversal propulsion devices built into or mounted to either the Bow (watercraft), bow or stern (front or back, respectively) of a ship or boat to make it more manoeuvrable. Bow th ...

Gallery

File:HMS Shemara FL18981.jpg, HMS ''Shemara'' during World War II File:Shemara.jpg, MY ''Shemara'' in Southampton in May 2014 File:Venice, Italy - panoramio (818).jpg, MY ''Shemara'' in Venice in October 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shemara, MY Motor yachts Ships built in England 1938 ships Ships built by John I. Thornycroft & Company