The Royal yacht Alexandra, named for the consort of King Edward VII, provided a fine advertisement for A & J Inglis, shipbuilders in the Commercial year book of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce & Manufactures in 1915.
The main Royal yacht when Edward VII came to the throne was the Victoria and Albert. She was was regarded as unsatisfactory in many respects and in 1907 the Admiralty ordered a second, smaller yacht. For the first time, the contract to build a royal yacht was put out to tender. The successful bid came from the Pointhouse yard of A & J Inglis, who could point to examples of yachts already built for foreign royalty and businessmen.
The triple screw turbine yacht was launched by the King's sister, HRH Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll. The vessel was used mainly to carry the King to his favourite resort of Biarritz, and also to Mediterranean resorts and to Germany. She served as a hospital ship during the First World War and was later acquired by a buyer in Norway.
Reference: Mitchell Library, G 381
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
A & J Inglis, Admiralty, Alexandra, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, Pointhouse Shipyard, royal family, royal yachts, shipbuilders, shipbuilding, ships, shipyards