Rover (later renamed Southern Cross, Orizaba) was a steam yacht built in 1930 by Alexander Stephen and Sons in Linthouse, Glasgow, Scotland for Lord Inchcape, then chairman of the P&O. Built as yard number 527, she was 265 feet 5 inches (80.90 m) long with a beam of 40 feet 1 inch (12.22 m) and a tonnage of 2,115, and was considered "the most luxurious ever built on the Clyde".[2]
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Rover |
| Builder | A Stephen & Sons, Linthouse |
| Renamed | Southern Cross, Orizaba (1939) |
| Fate | Scrapped c. 1960 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Steam yacht |
| Tonnage | 2,115 Thames Measurement[1] |
| Length | 266 ft 5 in (81.20 m) |
| Beam | 40 ft 4 in (12.3 m) |
| Draught | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Installed power | 3,000 shp (2,200 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h) |
Description
editThe yacht's figurehead was a likeness of Lord Inchcape's daughter, Elsie Mackay, who disappeared while trying to fly the Atlantic in 1928.[3] With accommodation for up to 14 guests, the yacht was painted green and white at launch with a predominantly silver-coloured dining room.[4]
Rover's staterooms featured en-suite marbled bathrooms. Dancing and games were staged on the open decks. Long-distance fuel tanks permitted long round-the-world voyages. In Cowes Week in August 1930, she was visited by the then King George V and Queen Mary.[5]
Later career
editAfter Lord Inchcape's death aboard Rover in Monte Carlo's Port Hercules harbour on 23 May 1932,[6] rumours circulated that the Aga Khan would buy the yacht,[7] while a rumoured deal with King Carol II of Romania also fell through.[8] However, a year later she was bought, unseen, by US businessman Howard Hughes, and renamed Southern Cross.[2][9] She was subsequently sold to Swedish entrepreneur Axel Wenner-Gren, under whose ownership she helped rescue survivors from the SS Athenia, the first ship to be sunk by Nazi Germany in World War II.[10]
The vessel subsequently served in the Mexican Navy as Orizaba until she was scrapped around 1960.[8]
References
edit- ^ A Shipbuilding History. 1750–1932 (Alexander Stephen and Sons): Chapter 10
- ^ a b "Lord Inchcape's Yacht Bought By American". The Straits Times. Singapore Government. 21 December 1933. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- ^ "Lord Inchcape's Yacht Sold". Dundee Courier. 3 January 1933. Retrieved 23 September 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Lord Inchcape's New Yacht". Portsmouth Evening News. 4 July 1930. Retrieved 23 September 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Alexander Stephen & Sons (1932). A Shipbuilding History, 1750–1932: A Record of the Business Founded, about 1750, by Alexander Stephen at Burghead, and Subsequently Carried on at Aberdeen, Arbroath, Dundee and Glasgow. A Stephen & Sons Limited.
- ^ "Lord Inchcape". Hartlepool Mail. 24 May 1932. Retrieved 23 September 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Aga Khan to Buy Inchcape Yacht?". Edinburgh Evening News. 1 July 1932. Retrieved 23 September 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b Wisner, Bill (December 1975). "The Golden Age of Yachts". Motor Boating. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- ^ "Film Producer Buys Yacht". Avalon, CA: The Catalina Islander. 5 July 1933. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
- ^ Carroll, Francis (2012). Athenia Torpedoed: The U-Boat Attack that Ignited the Battle of the Atlantic. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-61251-155-9.
