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91-504: HMY Iolaire was an iron-hulled steam yacht that was launched in Scotland in 1881 as Iolanthe . She was renamed Mione in 1898; Iolanthe in 1900; and Amalthæa in 1907. Between 1881 and 1915 a succession of industrialists and aristocrats had owned the yacht. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1915 as HMY Amalthaea , and renamed HMY Iolaire in 1918. She was wrecked in

182-720: A Deputy First Sea Lord , was added to the Board who would administer operations abroad and deal with questions of foreign policy. In October 1917, the development of the staff was carried one step further by the creation of two sub-committees of the Board—the Operations Committee and the Maintenance Committee. The First Lord of the Admiralty was chairman of both committees, and the Operations Committee consisted of

273-548: A "steam auxiliary", capable of covering long distances between coaling stations under her fully rigged sail area of 9200 square yards, but with enough fuel to steam for up to 20 days if necessary (she could carry 80 tons of coal). Their trip was made famous by a book written and published by his wife Annie Brassey - A Voyage in the Sunbeam, our Home on the Ocean for Eleven Months . Within a few years other yachts were built for owners with

364-435: A low, smooth freeboard. Main propulsion usually came from one or two steam engines, later of compound type, or in even later, very large yachts, triple expansion or turbines . Steam yachts usually carried rigging for sails, originally as an auxiliary propulsion system, but later more for show and naval tradition. Private steam yachts were capable of long seagoing voyages, but their owners' needs and habits saw most stay near to

455-466: A newly-composed piece of music, and artist Margaret Ferguson painted portraits of 100 of the men who were killed. The Arts and Humanities Research Council 's "Living Legacies (1914–1918)" project, led by Abertay University and The Centre for History, University of the Highlands and Islands , has created an online app that expresses the nature and extent of the loss to families and communities. The disaster

546-465: A number of times in and out of commission until 1709, after which the office was almost permanently in commission (the last Lord High Admiral being the future King William IV in the early 19th century). In this organization a dual system operated the Lord High Admiral (from 1546) then Commissioners of the Admiralty (from 1628) exercised the function of general control (military administration) of

637-467: A point (slightly more than 5.6 degrees ) off her port bow . The yacht overtook a fishing vessel, Spider , off the mouth of Loch Grimshader, south of Stornoway. Spider was also heading for Stornoway, and now followed Iolaire . Spider ' s skipper, James MacDonald, testified that Iolaire ' s course was too far to starboard, bringing her too close to land on the east side of the harbour mouth. In his statement, MacDonald declared "I noticed that

728-728: A separate Navy Board responsible for the day-to-day running of the Royal Navy, the Army Board and the Air Force Board , each headed by the Secretary of State for Defence . In the 20th century the structure of the Admiralty Headquarters was predominantly organized into four parts: Board of Admiralty When the office of Lord High Admiral was in commission, as it was for most of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, until it reverted to

819-413: A similar sense of adventure, famously Lancashire Witch for Sir Thomas George Fermor-Hesketh, 7th Baronet and Wanderer for Charles Joseph Lambert. These sailing yachts, with steam auxiliary power, were more expensive to build and run, but gave the owners the freedom to roam the world without necessarily planning their routes via the network of coaling stations in existence at this time. In addition

910-472: A storm at the mouth of Stornoway harbour on New Year's Day 1919. The disaster killed more than 200 people, including many of the young men of the isles of Lewis and Harris . UK law now protects her wreck as a war grave . Ramage & Ferguson of Leith on the Firth of Forth built the yacht as yard number 28, and launched her on 30 April 1881. Her registered length was 189.3 ft (57.7 m), her beam

1001-464: A survivor was seen clinging to one of Iolaire ' s masts. This was 20-year-old Donald Morrison, who had climbed the mast several hours earlier. A motorboat commanded by a naval lieutenant was sent to him. At first the sea was too rough to come close enough to rescue him. By about 10:00 hrs the sea had subsided enough, and the boat's crew helped him aboard. Sources differ as to precise numbers, but 201 or 205 men were killed, and 79 or 82 survived. It

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1092-406: Is a class of steam yacht in the luxury category. In 1876-77, British politician Thomas Brassey took his wife and children on a world cruise in their newly built yacht, the 532 ton Sunbeam . Brassey preferred sail as the primary source of motive power, but knew from years of experience the advantages of steam power, when wind and tide made progress difficult. Sunbeam was, therefore, designed as

1183-761: Is also remembered in 'Lament for the Iolaire', a piobaireachd composed by Stornoway-born Pipe Major Donald MacLeod and published in 1978 which is regularly performed by solo pipers in competitions and recitals. Pipe Major MacLeod was two years old when the sinking occurred. With effect from 2 September 2019, Iolaire ' s wreck is a protected war grave under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 . 58°11′16″N 6°20′59″W  /  58.18774°N 6.34971°W  / 58.18774; -6.34971  ( Wreck site of HMY Iolaire ) Steam yacht The English steamboat entrepreneur George Dodd (1783–1827) used

1274-505: Is closer to the original meaning of the word "yacht", coming from the Dutch term Jacht , describing a small, fast commercial vessel. The distinction between a commercial steam yacht and a coastal trading vessel is not a clear one, but the latter term usually implies a mainly cargo-carrying ship. Steam yachts were often run by packet companies operating regular, timetabled services between islands or coastal towns. Steam yachts were widely used in

1365-625: The Quest are all examples of commercial vessels that went on to become steam yachts used during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration . It was common for expedition leaders to be members of a yacht club , so many of these ships were registered to a civilian club and flew a club burgee (and a blue ensign in the case of British steam yachts). Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance and Roald Amundsen's Fram are unusual cases of vessels being purpose-built as icebreaking private steam yachts. Endurance

1456-460: The 18th century , and subsequently. The modern Admiralty Board , to which the functions of the Admiralty were transferred in 1964, is a committee of the tri-service Defence Council of the United Kingdom . This Admiralty Board meets only twice a year, and the day-to-day running of the Royal Navy is controlled by a Navy Board (not to be confused with the historic Navy Board ). It is common for

1547-611: The Castle Mail Packet Company , had acquired her, and reverted her registration to London. By 1892 her tonnages had been revised to 415  GRT and 204  NRT . By 1898 Douglas Graham, 5th Duke of Montrose had acquired her and renamed her Mione , and her code letters had been changed to PVWQ. "Mione" is an abbreviation of Hermione, the middle name of the Duke's wife, Violet Graham, Duchess of Montrose . By 1900 Horlicks proprietor Sir James Horlick, 1st Baronet had acquired

1638-723: The First World War , the SY Hildegarde was renamed as the Managem . On 15 January 1917 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty and armed with a 12 pdr naval gun. Notably she was stationed off Atlit in Israel and used to relay espionage messages from operatives onshore (and briefly used by the Jewish "Nili" espionage group). Admiralty (United Kingdom) The Admiralty was a department of

1729-651: The Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State . For much of its history, from the early 18th century until its abolition, the role of the Lord High Admiral was almost invariably put "in commission" and exercised by the Lords Commissioner of the Admiralty , who sat on

1820-619: The Menai . In cooperation with the Scottish engineer Robert Napier , whose Govan, Glasgow yard built a number of them, Smith did much to improve the hull design of steam yachts. After 1856, when the Royal Yacht Squadron (the Club became Squadron in 1833) removed their edict, steam yacht building began to multiply. In England around 1901, some steam-powered fairground swings attempted to recreate

1911-571: The Mercantile Navy List recorded her owner as a Vivian L Newton of Manchester . He may have acquired her in 1918. In the First World War the Admiralty requisitioned the yacht, and armed her with two 3-inch guns . She was commissioned into the Navy as HMY Amalthaea , with the pennant number 065, and entered service on 14 February 1915. She was based at Great Yarmouth . In November 1918 she

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2002-476: The Navy Board responsible for 'civil administration' of the navy, from 1546 to 1832. This structure of administering the navy lasted for 285 years, however, the supply system was often inefficient and corrupt its deficiencies were due as much to its limitations of the times they operated in. The various functions within the Admiralty were not coordinated effectively and lacked inter-dependency with each other, with

2093-681: The Royal Scots Navy and then absorbed the responsibilities of the Lord High Admiral of the Kingdom of Scotland with the unification of the Kingdom of Great Britain . The Admiralty was among the most important departments of the British Government , because of the Royal Navy's role in the expansion and maintenance of the English overseas possessions in the 17th century , the British Empire in

2184-553: The naval trawler was more suited to these kinds of tasks. Steam yachts often used the ship prefix SY , but some were alternatively described as screw schooner , if they carried schooner rig. A fine example of the screw schooner is the 125 year old British Amazon , built at Southampton in 1885 from designs by the renowned Dixon Kemp and still in use in the USA after crossing the Atlantic in 2009, although diesel-propelled since 1937. She

2275-456: The whaling trade. The light, fast design of a steam yacht was ideal for chasing whales, and the lack of a large amount of cargo space did not matter as whaling produced few bulky products. Commercial steam yachts were rarely as ornate or luxurious as their private counterparts, with simpler, more rugged lines and usually a more practical sailing rig. Steam yachts used in the whaling trade often had reinforced hulls to allow them to operate amongst

2366-542: The 280  GRT Sheila , was too small to carry so many passengers in one trip, so the Navy had sent Iolaire to Kyle of Lochalsh to meet the trains. Iolaire was short-handed, as about half of her crew were on leave for Christmas. She reached Kyle of Lochalsh about 16:00 hrs. The two trains reached Kyle of Lochalsh railway station at 18:15 hrs and 19:00 hrs. About 320 men alighted from the two trains. About 27 or 30 embarked on Sheila , and 260 or 290 on Iolaire . Sources differ as to precise numbers, but either way, Iolaire

2457-670: The Admiralty Naval Staff in 1917. It was the former senior command, operational planning, policy and strategy department within the British Admiralty. It was established in 1917 and existed until 1964 when the department of the Admiralty was abolished, and the staff departments function continued within the Navy Department of the Ministry of Defence until 1971 when its functions became part of the new Naval Staff, Navy Department of

2548-577: The Admiralty. The Lords Commissioners were always a mixture of admirals , known as Naval Lords or Sea Lords and Civil Lords, normally politicians. The quorum of the Board was two commissioners and a secretary. The president of the Board was known as the First Lord of the Admiralty , who was a member of the Cabinet . After 1806, the First Lord of the Admiralty was always a civilian, while the professional head of

2639-566: The Board of Admiralty until 1832. Its principal commissioners of the Navy advised the board in relation to civil administration of the naval affairs. The Navy Board was based at the Navy Office . Board of Admiralty civilian members responsible other important civil functions Admiralty Naval Staff It evolved from * Admiralty Navy War Council , (1909–1912) which in turn became the Admiralty War Staff , (1912–1917) before finally becoming

2730-686: The CNS to issue orders in their own name, as opposed to them previously being issued by the Permanent Secretary of the Admiralty in the name of the Board. In 1964, the Admiralty—along with the War Office and the Air Ministry —were abolished as separate departments of state, and placed under one single new Ministry of Defence . Within the expanded Ministry of Defence are the new Admiralty Board which has

2821-612: The Crown , it was exercised by a Board of Admiralty, officially known as the Commissioners for Exercising the Office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, &c. (alternatively of England , Great Britain or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland depending on the period). The Board of Admiralty consisted of a number of Lords Commissioners of

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2912-630: The First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, the Deputy First Sea Lord, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff, and Fifth Sea Lord . Full operational control of the Royal Navy was finally handed over to the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) by an order in Council , effective October 1917, under which he became responsible for the issuing of orders affecting all war operations directly to the fleet. It also empowered

3003-691: The Government will in future provide adequate and safe travelling facilities for naval ratings and soldiers. The jury desired to add that they were satisfied no-one on board was under the influence of intoxicating liquor, and also that there was no panic on board after the vessel struck. They added a rider to their verdict, recommending that the Carnegie Trust and the Royal Humane Society consider awarding Seaman John Macleod "some token of appreciation of his conduct". An Iolaire Disaster Fund Committee

3094-650: The Ministry of Defence. Offices of the Naval Staff Admiralty Departments The Admiralty Departments were distinct and component parts of the Department of Admiralty that were superintended by the various offices of the Sea Lords responsible for them; they were primarily administrative, research, scientific and logistical support organisations. The departments role was to provide the men, ships, aircraft and supplies to carry out

3185-463: The Navigating Officer, Lieutenant Cotter, relieved the commanding officer, Commander Mason. Mason retired to his cabin. McLean spent one hour at the helm, until another man relieved him at 01:00 hrs. The wind was coming from the south, astern of Iolaire , and freshened as she neared Stornoway harbour. McLean testified that he sighted Arnish Point lighthouse, at the harbour mouth, about half

3276-514: The Navy and they were usually responsible for the conduct of any war, while the actual supply lines, support and services were managed by four principal officers, namely, the Treasurer , Comptroller , Surveyor and Clerk of the Acts , responsible individually for finance , supervision of accounts , Shipbuilding and maintenance of ships, and record of business. These principal officers came to be known as

3367-475: The United Kingdom and a Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom , both of which are honorary offices. The office of Admiral of England (later Lord Admiral, and later Lord High Admiral ) was created around 1400; there had previously been Admirals of the northern and western seas. King Henry VIII established the Council of the Marine—later to become the Navy Board —in 1546, to oversee administrative affairs of

3458-542: The approved policy of the Board of Admiralty and conveyed to them during 20th century by the Admiralty Naval Staff. Offices of the Sea Lords Department of the Permanent Secretary The Secretary's Department consisted of members of the civil service it was directed and controlled by a senior civil servant Permanent Secretary to the Board of Admiralty he was not a Lord Commissioner of

3549-466: The board ensured the necessary authority to carry through any operation of war. The Deputy Chief of Naval Staff would direct all operations and movements of the fleet, while the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff would be responsible for mercantile movements and anti-submarine operations. The office of Controller would be re-established to deal with all questions relating to supply; on 6 September 1917,

3640-595: The coast. Inland seas such as the Baltic and the Mediterranean were popular areas for using steam yachts. Statistics show that Clydeside was the premier building area for steam yachts in the United Kingdom: 43 shipbuilding yards on Clydeside built 190 steam yachts between 1830 and 1935. Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd of Greenock Scotland built 23 steam yachts between 1876 and 1904. The auxiliary steam yacht

3731-491: The course of 1919 the fund raised £26,116. Over the next 18 years it made relief payments to 201 families bereaved by the disaster. The last payments were in January 1938, when the last of the children of those killed reached the age of 18. The Lewis War Memorial , an 85-foot (26 m) granite tower, commemorates all those from Lewis who died in the First World War, and was completed in 1924. A smaller granite monument, specific to

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3822-521: The creation of the Admiralty Navy War Council in 1909. Following this, a new advisory body called the Admiralty War Staff was then instituted in 1912, headed by the Chief of the War Staff who was responsible for administering three new sub-divisions responsible for operations , intelligence and mobilisation . The new War Staff had hardly found its feet and it continually struggled with

3913-456: The disaster was commemorated in several ways. On 31 December 2018 a plaque was unevieled on Kyle of Lochalsh railway station , commemorating Iolaire ' s final sailing from the pier, and the disaster that followed. On 1 January 2019 a national commemorative service was held on Lewis. Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay , and the First Minister of Scotland , Nicola Sturgeon , laid wreaths at

4004-460: The entrepreneur Thomas Assheton Smith (II) (1776–1858), (his first of three Fire Queen s) by Robert Napier, Govan, Glasgow and launched on 27 July 1844, Napier Yard No 5, engine No 88. She was bought by the British Admiralty in July 1847 for £5,000 for use as a tender; there is an illustration (incorrectly captioned) of her in that role. She was sold on 4 August 1883 for £1,100 by the Admiralty to Castle

4095-413: The farmhouse at Stoneyfield, north of Holm Point. Others followed, and the farmers, Mr Anderson Young and his wife, treated them for hypothermia . Some of the toughest and least hypothermic of the survivors then walked to Stornoway to raise the alarm. Five of them reached Stornoway by 03:30 hrs. The Coxswain and Secretary of Stornoway Lifeboat Station were summoned, but the senior Royal Navy officer in

4186-659: The ferry Sheila , told the Court that Iolaire seemed to take a correct course up the Minch, and to have made the correct turn to port to approach Stornoway, but may have made that turn a few minutes too late, which put her on course for the Beasts of Holm instead of the harbour mouth. He also suspected that she may have failed to reduce speed. The Sheriff attached great importance to Captain Cameron's evidence. The jury reach an unanimous verdict: That

4277-454: The frame of the yacht's hull, and the number of men aboard. At night 201 of the posts are illuminated in blue to represent the dead, and 79 are lit in red to represent the survivors. Ever since the disaster, artists have responded with songs and poems, including in Gaelic, which was the first language of many of the victims. For the centenary, musicians Julie Fowlis and Duncan Chisholm performed

4368-604: The governing Board of Admiralty , rather than by a single person. The Admiralty was replaced by the Admiralty Board in 1964, as part of the reforms that created the Ministry of Defence and its Navy Department (later Navy Command ). Before the Acts of Union 1707 , the Office of the Admiralty and Marine Affairs administered the Royal Navy of the Kingdom of England , which merged with

4459-521: The great waters, and thy footsteps are not known". There is also a stone pillar marking one of the Beasts of Holm. The dead are also commemorated on the war monuments in their home parishes on Lewis. In some cases the men killed in the Iolaire disaster are named in a separate list on their parish monument, as at Carloway , Crossbost , and Garrabost . In March 2018 a cairn and a pictorial plaque were unveiled in Carn Gardens beside Stornoway Town Hall. The cairn consists of 201 stones, each collected from

4550-421: The hawser. However, "mountainous waves" were breaking over the yacht, and some men lost their grip on the rope and were swept away. At about 03:15 hrs a wave toppled the yacht over to port, pulling the hawser back into the sea, and leaving Iolaire submerged apart from her two masts. The sea swept away those men who were still clinging and trying to reach land to the hawser. At about 03:00 hrs one survivor reached

4641-453: The helm when the yacht struck the rocks. When the First World War began, about 29,000 people were living on Lewis and Harris. Many of them were members of the Royal Naval Reserve . In the course of the war, between 6,200 and 7,000 islanders enlisted for active service. 800 to 1,000 had been killed by the time of the Armistice of 11 November 1918 . Another 200-plus killed by the Iolaire disaster further depleted that generation of young men in

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4732-411: The home parish of the man it represents by school pupils of the Nicolson Institute . In November 2018, 201 trees, representing the men killed in the Iolaire disaster, was planted at Laxdale on Lewis, to form an avenue leading to the Lewis War Memorial tower. The Woodland Trust supplied saplings of hardy native species: downy birch , wych elm , bird cherry , rowan , and hazel . The centenary of

4823-433: The ice of frozen waters. This meant that several whaling-yachts crossed the definition from commercial to private yacht in later life when they were bought for polar exploration work. Since these expeditions were, by and large, privately funded the ships used became, by definition, private steam yachts and many were registered with the 'SY' prefix used for such craft. The Aurora , Morning , Nimrod , Terra Nova and

4914-439: The monument at Holm, and the Duke unveiled a new sculpture commemorating John Macleod. It is a bronze representation of a coil of two ropes: the heaving line with which he swam ashore, and beneath it the hawser that he hauled ashore with the heaving line. Artist Malcolm Maclean, of Uig, Lewis , created "Sheol nan Iolaire", a sculpture in Stornoway harbour that is a life-size outline of Iolaire . It uses 280 posts to represent both

5005-427: The mouth of Stornoway harbour. Survivors testified that between five and ten minutes before Iolaire ran aground, they felt a change in motion of the ship. The Court interpreted this as being the result of her turning half a point to port to line up to enter the harbour. She had steamed north up The Minch with the wind astern of her, and a turn to port to approach Stornoway would have brought the wind and waves to bear on

5096-455: The name for their comic opera Iolanthe , which was premiered in 1882. Iolanthe ' s first owner was a Thomas J Waller of Holland Park , London. She was registered in London . Her United Kingdom official number was 85043, and her code letters were WBHD. By 1889 Mortimer Singer , son of the sewing machine manufacturer Isaac Singer , had acquired Iolanthe and registered her in New York . By 1890 Sir Donald Currie , founder of

5187-455: The naval service. Operational control of the Royal Navy remained the responsibility of the Lord High Admiral, who was one of the nine Great Officers of State . This management approach would continue in force in the Royal Navy until 1832. King Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission in 1628, and control of the Royal Navy passed to a committee in the form of the Board of Admiralty . The office of Lord High Admiral passed

5278-431: The navy and naval thought. Between 1860 and 1908, there was no real study of strategy and of staff work conducted within the naval service ; it was practically ignored. All the Navy's talent flowed to the great technical universities. This school of thought for the next 50 years was exclusively technically based. The first serious attempt to introduce a sole management body to administer the naval service manifested itself in

5369-409: The navy came to be (and is still today) known as the First Sea Lord . Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (1628–1964) The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of The Board of Admiralty, which exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was not vested in a single person. The commissioners were a mixture of politicians without naval experience and professional naval officers,

5460-403: The newly created office of Chief of the Naval Staff was merged in the office of the First Sea Lord. Also appointed was a new post, that of Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff , and an Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff ; all were given seats on the Board of Admiralty. This for the first time gave the naval staff direct representation on the board; the presence of three senior naval senior members on

5551-427: The officer in charge did not exercise sufficient prudence in approaching the harbour; That the boat did not slow down, and that a look-out was not on duty at the time of the accident; That the number of lifebelts , boats, and rafts was insufficient for the number of people carried; And that no orders were given by the officers with a view to saving life; and, further, That there was a loss of valuable time between

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5642-515: The oldest steam yachts, and one of the few still surviving today, is the Kheideval Yacht, Mahroussa , which was built in 1865 and was maintained in seaworthy condition by the Egyptian government. The Hildegarde and Hiawatha were steam yachts chartered by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (United Kingdom) - Directorate of Fisheries, now known as the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) between 1912 and 1914 to carry out fishery investigations. Before

5733-399: The opposition to its existence by senior officers they were categorically opposed to a staff. The deficiencies of the system within this department of state could be seen in the conduct of the Dardanelles campaign . There were no mechanisms in place to answer the big strategic questions. A Trade Division was created in 1914. Sir John Jellicoe came to the Admiralty in 1916. He re-organized

5824-444: The port side. The Court concluded that Iolaire was about six cables off course to the east. As a result, the half-point turn to port lined her up with the Beasts of Holm, instead of with the harbour mouth. Its verdict was that "the Officer in Charge … did not exercise sufficient prudence in approaching the harbour". On 10 February 1919 a public inquiry before a jury began at Stornoway Sheriff Court . Captain Cameron, Master of

5915-434: The proportion of naval officers generally increasing over time. Key Officials First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty was the British government's senior civilian adviser on all naval affairs and the minister responsible for the direction and control of the Admiralty and Marine Affairs Office later the Department of Admiralty.(+) His office

6006-505: The result that in 1832, Sir James Graham abolished the Navy Board and merged its functions within those of the Board of Admiralty. At the time this had distinct advantages; however, it failed to retain the principle of distinctions between the Admiralty and supply, and a lot of bureaucracy followed with the merger. In 1860 saw big growth in the development of technical crafts, the expansion of more admiralty branches that really began with age of steam that would have an enormous influence on

6097-401: The shipbreakers. Fire Queen was replaced by the Admiralty by the former Steam yacht Candace , launched on 23 September 1881 by Ramage & Ferguson, Leith, bought by the Admiralty in 1882 and then duly renamed Fire Queen . In the First World War vessels such as these and several requisitioned private yachts were used on anti- U-boat patrols and for minesweeping . It became clear that

6188-422: The shore and the Beasts of Holm, with her stern only about 20 yards (18 m) from land. One man, 32-year-old John Finlay Macleod, swam ashore carrying a "heaving line". This was a lightweight rope by which a heavier hawser could be pulled ashore from the yacht. Macleod reached the land about 02:25 hrs. Once one end of the hawser had been pulled ashore, between 30 and 40 men reached land by working their way along

6279-402: The signals of distress and the arrival of the life-saving apparatus in the vicinity of the wreck. The jury recommended: 1. That drastic improvements should be made immediately for the conveying of life-saving apparatus in the case of ships in distress; 2. That the Lighthouse Commissioners take into consideration the question of putting up a light on the Holm side of the harbour; and 3. That

6370-443: The steam yacht experience; one example was built by the fairground equipment engineer Frederick Savage. The term "steam yacht" encompasses vessels of several distinct uses, but of similar design. A luxury yacht in the modern sense is a vessel owned privately and used for pleasure or non-commercial purposes. Steam yachts of this type came to prominence from the 1840s to the early-20th century in Europe . The first British royal yacht

6461-452: The term "steam yacht" to describe the steamer Thames , ex Duke of Argyle . Her service on the river had first been advertised on 22 June 1815 as "Thames Steam Yacht", intended to emphasise how luxurious these vessels were. The first two private steam yachts known were: Thomas Assheton Smith II was excluded from the Royal Yacht Club for his advocacy of the steam yacht, eight of which he commissioned between 1830 and 1851, beginning with

6552-551: The town, Rear Admiral Boyle, told them that it would be impossible for their lifeboat to get near enough to the shore to rescue survivors. Instead, Boyle summoned His Majesty's Coastguard and ordered that "life-saving apparatus" (presumably a Breeches buoy ) be taken to Holm Head. A party carrying the apparatus left the barracks in Stornoway by 03:50. However, unbeknown to them, by then the yacht had rolled over and sunk, making use of shore-based apparatus impractical. After 09:00 hrs,

6643-437: The two islands. Bodies were washed ashore and buried for some time after the shipwreck, but the remains of 56 of the victims were never found. Less than a fortnight after the disaster, the Admiralty tried to sell the wreck. At that time, the bodies of 80 of the men were still missing. Rear Admiral Boyle told the Admiralty that islanders "resent the wreck being sold while the bodies remain still unrecovered". The Admiralty withdrew

6734-413: The various authorities now in charge of the Royal Navy to be referred to as simply 'The Admiralty'. The title of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom was vested in the monarch from 1964 to 2011. The title was awarded to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh by Queen Elizabeth II on his 90th birthday and since his death in 2021 has reverted to the monarch. There also continues to be a Vice-Admiral of

6825-468: The vessel did not alter her course… but kept straight on in the direction of the Beasts of Holm. I remarked to one of the crew that the vessel would not clear the headland at Holm..." At about 01:50 hrs Iolaire struck a group of rocks called the Beasts of Holm ("Biastan Thuilm" in Scottish Gaelic ). The yacht listed heavily to starboard , and between 50 and 60 men were thrown into the sea. The yacht

6916-483: The victims of Iolaire , was erected at Holm in either 1958 or 1960 (sources differ as to which year it was). The then Provost of Stornoway, Donald Stewart , attended the unveiling. It consists of an obelisk, with an inscription at the base in both Scottish Gaelic and English. It includes Psalm 77 , verse 19, in Gaelic. In English in the King James Version the verse reads "Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in

7007-423: The war staff as following: Chief of War Staff, Operations, Intelligence, Signal Section , Mobilisation, Trade. It was not until 1917 that the admiralty department was again properly reorganized and began to function as a professional military staff . In May 1917, the term "Admiralty War Staff" was renamed and that department and its functional role were superseded by a new " Admiralty Naval Staff "; in addition,

7098-620: The wreck from sale. A Naval Court of Inquiry was held on 8 January 1919. It reported its findings to the Admiralty, but they were not published until 1970. The shipwreck took place on Hogmanay , but the Inquiry concluded that drinking had not contributed to it. Clearly the yacht was off-course, but the inquiry had to consider why this was the case. Neither Cotter nor Mason had ever navigated Iolaire into Stornoway at night. The Court considered whether Cotter may have used Tiumpan Head Lighthouse to reckon his course, rather than Arnish Point Lighthouse at

7189-726: The yacht and reverted her name to Iolanthe . By 1906 a Mrs Florence Calvert of Eton Avenue , Belsize Park , London had acquired her. By 1907 Sir Charles Assheton-Smith, 1st Baronet , of Vaynol Park in Caernarfonshire , had acquired the yacht. He renamed her after Amaltheia , a nymph in Greek mythology . The Mercantile Navy List records the name as Amalthæa , with an " æ " ligature . Lloyd's Register at first spelt it Amalthea , but by 1909 had changed it to Amalthaea . Assheton-Smith died in 1914, but Amalthæa remained registered in his name until 1918. In 1919, after she had been wrecked,

7280-589: The yacht masters were not totally reliant on the quality of the steaming coal available to them, that could at times be questionable. When not in steam, the funnel on the auxiliary yacht would be lowered and the propeller feathered to reduce drag. Those of the second class of steam yacht were built for commercial use, but gained the 'yacht' title due to their size and design similarity with the private vessels and because they were not constructed to be mainly cargo- or passenger-carrying vessels, but as versatile, low- draft ships capable of working local coastal routes. This

7371-767: Was Victoria & Albert of 1843. Nominally the first steam yacht in the United States was Cornelius Vanderbilt 's North Star , launched in 1854; however, this was actually a full-size steamship fitted out for the personal use of Vanderbilt and his family, and left no legacy on steam yacht design. The first true steam yachts known to have been built in the United States, Leonard Jerome ' s Clara Clarita and R. F. Loper ' s Wave , were completed in 1864. Steam yachts were commissioned by wealthy individuals and often heads of state as extravagant symbols of wealth and/or power. They were usually built with similar hull-lines to clipper ships , with an ornate bow structure and

7462-441: Was 27.1 ft (8.3 m), and her depth was 15.0 ft (4.6 m). Her tonnages were 412  GRT and 261  NRT . She had a single screw , driven by a two-cylinder compound engine that was made by Matthew Paul & Co of Dumbarton and rated at 110 NHP . She had two masts, and was rigged as a schooner . The yacht ' s first name was Iolanthe , a woman's forename. It predates Gilbert and Sullivan 's use of

7553-438: Was equipped with wireless telegraphy , but its operator "found it impossible to get it to work on the night of the accident". Iolaire gave a distress signal with her steam whistle , and Commander Mason fired distress flares . At the coastal artillery battery on Battery Point, signalman William Saunders was on duty from midnight to 04:00 hrs. He saw the lights of two ships approaching Stornoway, and thought that one of them

7644-541: Was formed almost immediately, and on 7 January 1919 it was registered under the War Charities Act 1916. The first donation was £1,000 from William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme , who in 1918 had bought the islands of Lewis and Harris. On 14 February 1919, a benefit concert was held in the Usher Hall , Edinburgh, and in the week 10–15 February public collections were made in all the cinemas of Edinburgh and Glasgow . In

7735-513: Was originally built for conducting tourist cruises of the Arctic, bringing her close to the definition of a yacht in the modern sense. The Royal Navy used small numbers of steam yacht-type vessels from the Victorian era onwards to transport men and equipment in harbour, act as coastal escorts for larger ships and for training and exercises. A good example of this was the iron p.s. Fire Queen built for

7826-427: Was overloaded. She left Kyle of Lochalsh about 19:30 hrs, and Sheila followed about half an hour later. Iolaire would have been steaming at about 10 knots (19 km/h). She steamed north out of Inner Sound , past South Rona , and out into The Minch . From midnight the wind freshened and became squally . At midnight the watch aboard the yacht changed. On her bridge a James McLean took over as helmsman ; and

7917-656: Was photographed on Columbus Day 2009 on a mooring near the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, Rhode Island . Aurora built by Alexander Stephen & Sons Ltd, Glasgow in 1876 (a former whaling-yacht turned Antarctic exploration vessel) is a notable example of the class, as are the Victorian era yachts used by European monarchs , such as the HMY Victoria and Albert III and the SMY Hohenzollern . One of

8008-531: Was supported by the Naval Secretariat . First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff The First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff was the Chief Naval Adviser on the Board of Admiralty to the First Lord and superintended the offices of the sea lords and the admiralty naval staff. Navy Board The Navy Board was an independent board from 1546 until 1628 when it became subordinate to, yet autonomous of

8099-406: Was the greatest peacetime loss of life in United Kingdom waters since the wreck of Norge off Rockall in 1904, and the greatest peacetime loss of life involving a UK-registered ship since the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912. Lieutenant Cotter, whose navigational error caused the shipwreck, was among the dead. So was the helmsman who relieved McLean at 01:00 hrs, and who would still have been at

8190-469: Was too far east to be on a correct course to enter port. At 01:50 hrs he saw a vessel off Holm Head display blue light, which is a signal that means "I require a pilot ". At 02:15 hrs he saw the vessel fire a red rocket flare, which was a distress signal. Saunders replied in Morse code with a signal lamp , but got no reply. Strong waves struck the yacht, and she swung beam-on to the shore, coming to rest between

8281-637: Was transferred to Stornoway to replace an armed yacht called Iolaire ( Scottish Gaelic for ' Eagle '), which was the flagship of the anti-submarine patrol based there. The two ships swapped names. Many young men from the Isle of Lewis served in the Royal Navy in the First World War. In the last week of December 1918, hundreds of them were granted leave from the naval bases at Devonport and Portsmouth . On New Year's Eve , 31 December 1918, they were heading Kyle of Lochalsh on two trains. The regular MacBrayne ferry between Kyle of Lochalsh and Stornoway,

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