''Madiz'' is a 55 metre twin screw steel yacht built on the

River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, in 1902. In 2006, she broke a record in the shipping industry by being the only ship in the world to be in class "+100A1" with

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research ...

of Shipping, 100 years after the date of its building.

Construction

''Madiz'' was designed by G. L. Watson, and It is the last surviving ship to have been designed by him personally. She was built by the Ailsa Shipyard in Troon, Scotland on the Clyde. ''Madiz'' is a classic yacht and retains most of her original deck equipment and unique panelling, the original Burma teak on much of the deck and all the deck’s side panelings. Cuban mahogany in the original master bedrooms and solid oak paneling in the reception areas. Originally she was powered by two steam engines. These were later replaced by two MTU Mercedes Maybach diesel engines.

History

The yacht was originally named ''Triton'' and her first owner was

James Coats Lieutenant colonel Sir James Stuart Coats, 3rd Baronet MC (13 April 1894 – 26 October 1966) was a British skeleton racer who competed in the late 1940s. He finished seventh in the men's skeleton event at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. M ...

. Following his death, she was purchased in 1913 by Sir George Bullough, owner of the Scottish island of

Rùm Rùm (), a Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic name often Anglicisation, anglicised to Rum ( ), is one of the Small Isles of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland, in the district of Lochaber. For much of the 20th century the ...

. He renamed her ''Rhouma''. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, ''Rhouma'' was hired for use as an auxiliary patrol yacht. Between the wars, she was lengthened and had an upper deck of cabins added, and her engines were converted to run on oil fuel. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 the Royal Patrol Yacht, ''HMS Hiniesta'', and was used for calibrating

huff-duff High-frequency direction finding, usually known by its abbreviation HF/DF or nickname huff-duff, is a type of radio direction finder (RDF) introduced in World War II. High frequency (HF) refers to a radio band that can effectively communicate ove ...

equipment in GB coastal waters. She later transported

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

and Princess Elizabeth on a short victory tour. In 1970 she was bought by Greek businessman Costas Keletseki, who renamed her ''Madiz'' and had her extensively rebuilt, restoring the original fittings but also modernizing with a conversion from steam to diesel engines. In 1989 ''Madiz'' was used as the primary setting for an episode of the British TV series ''

Agatha Christie's Poirot ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'', or simply ''Poirot'' (), is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2020. The ITV show is based on many of Agatha Christie's famous crime fiction series, wh ...

''. Between 2003 and 2006, ''Madiz'' underwent another major refit and was re-classed under Lloyd’s Register of Shipping in her original Class of +100A1. After Keletsekis died in 2009, the ship was sold and was available for charter. In March 2024 ''Madiz'' was placed up for sale again.

Footnotes

External links

The official Madiz homepage
{{Oldest surviving ships (pre-1919) Individual yachts Steam yachts Ships built on the River Clyde 1902 ships