There’s been renewed enthusiasm about the idea of a new Royal Yacht Britannia in the wake of Prince Philip’s death, which it’s thought could constitute a fitting tribute to the late Prince. The Queen’s husband was closely involved in the commissioning and design of the previous royal yacht.
In service from 1954 until 1997, the original Royal Yacht Britannia was the 83rd official royal yacht of a British monarch since Charles II became King in 1660. In her 43 years in service, she travelled over a million nautical miles around the globe, taking the Queen and Philip to such far-flung destinations as Fiji, Kuwait and San Diego. The Duke himself travelled some 70,000 miles on Britannia.
At 126 meters in length and a crew of 220 sailors, Royal Britannia was a large ship and as part of her design required tenders, smaller crafts to hang off her side to serve as support and were designed to fulfil a wide variety of purposes from ferrying passengers to collecting supplies. In Britannia’s case two of which were called ‘Jolly Boats’ and were used by members of the Royal Family and other guests when enjoying trips ashore from the yacht.
In the late 1990s spotted languishing on the Union Canal at Brentford Jolly Britt, one of the Britannia’s dedicated Jolly Boats, lay discarded and decaying. Her mothership by this time had been retired in 1997 bringing to an end the legacy of which Prince Phillip
himself described in writing back in 2003. In the foreword to the yacht’s 310-page official history, he said that the end of the tradition ‘signalled the end of an unbroken succession of Royal Yachts dating back to the reign of King Charles II’, adding: ‘The combination of her ocean-going capacity and efficient management reflected our long maritime traditions and made an invaluable contribution to the prestige of this country’.
The Mothership Britannia now resides at Ocean Terminal, Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland. One of the UK’s most popular tourist attractions, she receives more than 300,000 visitors a year. Jolly Britt’s fate did not take such a fortunate turn. It was Henry Butt who spotted Jolly Brit on the Grand Union and purchased her. Then began a labour of love to restore her over the next two decades.
She was a mess and he did his best to get her shipshape enough to join the hundreds of ships of historical importance to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee pageant back in 2012. However, it was going to take a collaborative effort of many to get this Jolly Boat back to Royal standards.
Late Autumn 2020 Stuart Humphries from Leisure Management plus and an old friend of Henry Butt spotted Jolly Brit tucked at the back of a muddy field near Bell Weir Lock Egham, speaking with the yard management soon learnt of plans to have her broken up. In Stuarts own words “Broken up! Scrapped!” Oh no! We are having none of that no way can we allow this fine piece of British Maritime History to be lost forever” And in one sentence he had signed himself up as project manager to help Henry in his dream of restoring this little piece of Royalty.
Stuart, not unfamiliar with wooden boats, decided his first point of call was Dennett’s in Chertsey. After a quick visit and some discussions, they were promptly commissioned to start work as soon as possible.
Stephen wasted no time at all, JB was transported to the yard in Chertsey and the team kicked started the restoration in January 2021. Stripping back the rotten mahogany hull to reveal the boats ribs, keel and stringer essentially the skeleton of the vessel, unfortunately this also revealed many rotten ribs which would require replacement. All new mahogany planking in two layers was then painstakingly applied to the hull to create a strong and durable vessel that without a doubt will last at least another 70 years. The diagonal inner skin is screwed to the ribs before the second skin is fitted running fore and aft, to provide a strong and light weight planking system.
By the end of January, she had been re ribbed, planked, primed and turned over ready for some intricate woodwork to her topsides and interior.
Once all her woodwork was completed she was handed over to the decorating team who spent many weeks painting and varnishing applying up to 12 coats to achieve the ultimate shine.
Whilst the yard was busy transforming Jolly Brit, Henry informed the Royal Palace of the restoration and the Queen herself on three occasions has conveyed in writing to Henry her gratitude in his dedication to the project and even recalling memories of using Jolly Britt in Africa feeding crocodiles.
April 23rd, in the glorious sunshine Jolly Brittwas launched, four months since works started on rebuilding this beautiful vessel. Not only does she have an incredible history, she is a little slice of royalty, as she toured the world with her mother ship the Royal Yacht Britannia. Two weeks before her launching the nation mourned the passing of HRH Prince Phillip. It is a great honour and tribute to His Royal Highness that this little Jolly Boat, once belonging to the Royal Family and used by the Queen and Prince Phillip, has been restored for future generations.
Congratulations to the owner, Henry who is 92 years old, to see his beloved Jolly Britt a floating icon and to have his legacy documented in preserving the future of her makes him and this restoration a very special one indeed.