HMY Mary
Encyclopedia
HMY Mary was the first Royal Yacht
of the Royal Navy
. She was built in 1660 by the Dutch East India Company
. Then she was purchased by the City of Amsterdam
and given to King Charles II
, on the restoration of the monarchy, as part of the Dutch Gift
. She struck rocks off Anglesey
in thick fog on 25 March 1675 while en-route from Dublin to Chester. Although 39 of 74 crew and passengers managed to get to safety, the wreck quickly broke up. The remains (bronze cannon) were independently discovered by two different diving groups in July 1971. After looters started to remove guns from the site, a rescue operation was organized and the remaining guns and other artefacts were taken to the Merseyside Museums for conservation and display. After the passing of the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973
, she was designated as a protected site on 20 January 1974.
derives from a Dutch word jagen, meaning to hurry. She was 52 feet long, with a beam of 19ft (15.8 by 5.8m) and displaced 100 tons. Her hull was copper clad to ensure that barnacles and other sea creatures did not adhere and cause drag.
The Dutch yacht is the fore-runner of the Thames sailing barge
. They had a large sail area, but a shallow draught that enabled them to navigate shallow waters. As with a sailing barge, sailing was achieved by means of a leeboard instead of having a deep keel. The shallow draught meant that she needed to carry additional ballast when sailing deeper waters. She was built for luxury with a
decorated counter. She is mentioned in the diaries of Samuel Pepys
. Charles II enjoyed racing and after owning her for a year commissioned the Katherine as a faster replacement; the first vessel built for him by Phineas Pett
.
Mary was then used for transporting diplomats and civil servants and was used regularly for journeys across the Irish Sea
between Dublin and Holyhead
.
The bronze guns were discovered by both the Chorley Sub Aqua Club and the Merseyside Sub Aqua Club in the same month. Under the direction of Peter Davies of Liverpool University and the Merseyide Museums, the artefacts were rescued from the site before they were lost to looters. The collection was conserved by the Liverpool City Museums Conservation Department and the Merseyside Museums now have over 1500 objects from the Mary, including cutlery and jewellery. A model of the Mary, built by Des Newton is also on displayhttp://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/online/exhibitions/animals/royalyachtmary.asp.
The Protection of Wrecks Act
was passed in 1974 and the Mary was amongst the first designations (after the Cattewater
) in 1974.
The site is regularly monitored by the contractor for the Protection of Wrecks Act and by the licensee.
Royal Yacht
A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head...
of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. She was built in 1660 by the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
. Then she was purchased by the City of Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and given to King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, on the restoration of the monarchy, as part of the Dutch Gift
Dutch Gift
The Dutch Gift of 1660 was a collection of 28 mostly Italian Renaissance paintings and 12 classical sculptures, along with a yacht, the Mary, and furniture, which was presented to King Charles II of England by the States-General of the Netherlands in 1660...
. She struck rocks off Anglesey
Anglesey
Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...
in thick fog on 25 March 1675 while en-route from Dublin to Chester. Although 39 of 74 crew and passengers managed to get to safety, the wreck quickly broke up. The remains (bronze cannon) were independently discovered by two different diving groups in July 1971. After looters started to remove guns from the site, a rescue operation was organized and the remaining guns and other artefacts were taken to the Merseyside Museums for conservation and display. After the passing of the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973
Protection of Wrecks Act 1973
The Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provides protection for designated shipwrecks. Section 1 of the act provides for wrecks to be designated because of historical, archaeological or artistic value. Section 2 provides for designation of...
, she was designated as a protected site on 20 January 1974.
Construction and sailing life
She was the first of some 27 yachts which the king owned between 1660 and 1685. The word yachtYacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
derives from a Dutch word jagen, meaning to hurry. She was 52 feet long, with a beam of 19ft (15.8 by 5.8m) and displaced 100 tons. Her hull was copper clad to ensure that barnacles and other sea creatures did not adhere and cause drag.
The Dutch yacht is the fore-runner of the Thames sailing barge
Thames sailing barge
A Thames sailing barge was a type of commercial sailing boat common on the River Thames in London in the 19th century. The flat-bottomed barges were perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary, with its shallow waters and narrow rivers....
. They had a large sail area, but a shallow draught that enabled them to navigate shallow waters. As with a sailing barge, sailing was achieved by means of a leeboard instead of having a deep keel. The shallow draught meant that she needed to carry additional ballast when sailing deeper waters. She was built for luxury with a
decorated counter. She is mentioned in the diaries of Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
. Charles II enjoyed racing and after owning her for a year commissioned the Katherine as a faster replacement; the first vessel built for him by Phineas Pett
Pett dynasty
The so-called Pett Dynasty was a family of shipwrights who prospered in England between the 15th and 17th centuries. It was once said of the family that they were "so knit together that the Devil himself could not discover them"...
.
Mary was then used for transporting diplomats and civil servants and was used regularly for journeys across the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
between Dublin and Holyhead
Holyhead
Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....
.
Wrecking, recovery and protection
She was on a regular journey across the Irish Sea, en-route from Dublin to Chester, on 25 March 1675. In the early hours of the morning in thick fog, she struck rocks. A lighthouse would later be built near this site. She would have carried 8 guns and a crew of 28. She also had 46 passengers at the time.The bronze guns were discovered by both the Chorley Sub Aqua Club and the Merseyside Sub Aqua Club in the same month. Under the direction of Peter Davies of Liverpool University and the Merseyide Museums, the artefacts were rescued from the site before they were lost to looters. The collection was conserved by the Liverpool City Museums Conservation Department and the Merseyside Museums now have over 1500 objects from the Mary, including cutlery and jewellery. A model of the Mary, built by Des Newton is also on displayhttp://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/online/exhibitions/animals/royalyachtmary.asp.
The Protection of Wrecks Act
Protection of Wrecks Act 1973
The Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provides protection for designated shipwrecks. Section 1 of the act provides for wrecks to be designated because of historical, archaeological or artistic value. Section 2 provides for designation of...
was passed in 1974 and the Mary was amongst the first designations (after the Cattewater
Cattewater Wreck
The Cattewater Wreck is a wooden three-masted, skeleton-built vessel, one of many ships that have wrecked in Cattewater, Plymouth Sound, England...
) in 1974.
The site is regularly monitored by the contractor for the Protection of Wrecks Act and by the licensee.
See also
External links
- Liverpool Museums: Scale model of HMY Mary