Mahroussa the 150 Year Old Motor Megayacht and Her Times

Historic Ships, 25-26 November 2014, London, UK

The Royal Institution of Naval Architects HISTORIC SHIPS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 25 –  26  26 November 2014, London “MAHROUSSA’ THE

150 YEAR OLD MOTOR MEGAYACHT AND HER TIMES”

Dimitri G. CAPAITZIS BSc ACGI CEng FRINA FIMarEST

FSCMESS, MIMechE MSNAME

SUMMARY

The  Mahroussa (El Horriya) is the oldest motor yacht in operation and currently among the 10 largest in the world. Designed by Sir Oliver Lang, on the same lines as the Victoria and Albert II, she was built by Samuda, London in 1865 for Egypt’s Khedive  Ismail. Powered originally by steam oscillating engines, paddle wheels, masts and sails, she was fitted with Parsons steam turbines and propellers in 1905, which were replaced by Ansaldo steam turbines in 1949. She was also lengthened twice to her present length of 478 feet. She was with the first ships to cross the Suez Canal on the 1869 inauguration and has since served the Egyptian Monarchs, Monarchs, Presidents and Navy. The 2nd half of the 19th century saw some spectacular changes in steamships. Paddle wheels, followed by propellers, steam engines by turbines, wood by iron, then steel in warships, dry cargo ships and tankers, passenger ships, river  boats, yachts and others. Equally the 20th 2 0th century saw innumerable other oth er changes in all areas and in two world wor ld wars , culminating in the Liberty and VLCCs. Yachts hold their own special place in these areas. In their design, construction and ultimately their use, one finds elements of the fast warship, luxury passenger ship and even the multipurpose service boat. It has furthermore the aura of the personal touch as expressed elsewhere in private or racing cars. Th e 150 history of  Mahroussa  through these times shows how a good yacht has kept up with others and changing times. 1. INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION

The  Rattler / Alecto  contest in 1845 marked the advent of the propellers replacing the paddle wheels in the  propulsion of steamships. In an engraving of the time these 800 ton 220 horsepower frigates are shown tied stern to stern and sailing at their full power and speed in opposite directions. The propeller-driven  Rattler,   on the left, overcame the paddle-driven  Alecto and pulled her in her direction at a speed of 2.8 knots. Earlier the  Rattler had won all races against the  Alecto by high margins. [1]

1886, among the first tankers, was part iron part steel. Finally Parson’s Turbinia came in 1894 and the dawn of steam turbine propulsion. New ideas, new designs, new materials from the world of science, from the learned societies, universities, and research, from industry,  business and the market, from advancing economics, even following the vagaries of international politics, conflicts and war, conquered the seas and created a new world.

The early 19th century had seen the start of some revolutionary changes in shipbuilding and ships. Sails were gradually replaced by steam and wood by iron. Early achievements with tugboats, ferry boats, even small warships, gradually developed into workable and efficient machines and vehicles that opened a new era at sea. Science and technology, discoveries and inventions in the age of industrial revolution saw thence spectacular developments in ships.

The  Mahroussa  was a most important element in all this. While on an admitedly much smaller scale than their cargo, passenger and warship cousins, yachts in that  period were very close to the trends of their times. Yachts for Royals, Heads of State and Millionaires were in those days also the arbiters of fashion, prestige and  power.

The 2nd half of the 19th century saw wood being phased out and iron quickly prevailing. Boiler design made great strides forward and equally steam engines, that  progressed through oscillating, reciprocating and compound, while the screw propeller proved superior to the paddle wheel. These were the times of Froude and his theories, Brunnel with the Great-Eastern,   an iron ship with both paddles   in 1861 and the and propeller in the 1850’s, the Warrior  in start of iron warships. In the 1880s Bessemer Bessemer steel started  in replacing iron and prevailed by 1990. Shell’s Glukhauf  in

The  Mahroussa   was built in 1865 and in time for the 1869 inauguration of the Suez Canal, a key event and achievement in world affairs, commerce and history. West and East were brought closer and new geographical and political realities emerged through the oceans and seas. The advent of steam greatly benefited maritime navigation worldwide. Equally it opened new opportunities for large ships on rivers and of course canals. The Rhine, Danube and Volga in Europe, the Nile in Africa, Mississipi in America, Yangtse in China and Suez would have been difficult for sailing ships.

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Historic Ships, 25-26 November 2014, London, UK

Yachts and River Boats of that period have great similarities. Associations with passenger ships, warships, even cargo ships give interesting possibilities. Naval Architects, Designers, Builders, Engine Makers, Operators and many others are mutually influenced and challenged by the different disciplines respectively required. This paper covers developments in shipbuilding,  propulsion and operation generally, but specifically for yachts and river boats in the times of the  Mahroussa . It covers selection, design, ordering, contracting, finance construction, supervision and thence operation, maintenance and ultimately renovation to keep up with the times, fast changing technology and of course changing costs of crewing, fuels, repairs etc. 2. SAIL TO STEAM, WOOD TO IRON

The first half of the 19th century saw the emergence of steamers with tugboats, ferry boats and coastal warships. The state of the art did not allow for larger ships and th eir high consumption of coal excluded long ranges. Economy as well as safety required the simultaneous use of sails with steam engines. Furthermore there were no coaling stations worldwide. Some of the early successes were the Charlotte  Dundas, a wooden stern-wheeler tugboat with a Symington steam engine on the Clyde in 1801, Fulton’s Clermont , a steam ferry on the Hudson River in 1807, Bell’s Comet  ferryboat on the Firth of the Forth and Marc Brunel’s  Regent  on the London to Margate run, both in 1812. The American  Demologos, a steam warship built in 1814, with a paddle wheel on the inside between two wooden hulls and 26-32 pound guns, never saw action in war. The steam warship  Rising Star   built in London for the Chileans reached Valparaiso in 1822, when their War of Independence had ended. The Greeks, then fighting for Independence, were among the pioneers in the use of steam warships. In 1825 they ordered the  Karteria to be built by Brent at Deptford on the Thames and her steam engines by Galloway at Smithfield. Commanded by the great Frank Abney Hastings with a crew of Greeks and Phillellenes, she contributed towards the success and end of the struggle in 1830. The naval battle of Navarino in October 1827 was to be the last between sailing ships. [2] At the time the challenge of the Atlantic proved irresistible. The American Savannah  in 24 days in 1819 and the Dutch Curacao  in 28 days in 1824 both crossed the Atlantic with part sail and part steam propulsion. In 1827 Napier built the  Anglia, 62’-8” long 13’ beam with an iron bottom and wood sides. In 1828 the French  built the Sphinx , 62.25m long 8.15m beam 910 tons 60h). In 1830 she had some war action in Algiers. In 1833 she towed from Egypt the Obelisk, now placed in Concorde Square, Paris. In 1830 the  Dee was built for the Royal  Navy with 2  –   36 pounders and 4 carronades. In 1833 the  Royal William was the first ship to cross the Atlantic on steam and paddle wheels alone, while the  Archimedes in 1838 was the first steamer driven by a propeller, which showed a gain on efficiency over paddle wheels. [3]

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, whose bronze statue stands on the Thames Embankment next to the old Shell  building, is the designer and builder of underwater tunnels, railways, bridges and ultimately the three great ships of the age. The first in 1838, the Great Western, wooden built, 236 feet long, 1321 tons, 2300 tons displacement, with four  boilers and one 750 horsepower steam engine driving 28 foot diameter paddle wheels, crossed the Atlantic on her maiden voyage from Bristol to New York in 14.5 days, an average 8 knots and with 24 first class passengers. She arrived only hours after the Sirius, 700 tons, 320 horsepower, that crossed from Cork to New York in 18.5 days, an average of 6.7 knots with forty passenger onboard. The second in 1845 the Great Britain, an iron ship, 322 feet long, 3443 tons 2,284 tons displacement, with a 1500 horse power steam engine driving one propeller, crossed at an average 12 knots with 60 first class  passengers in state rooms and a full complement of steerage passengers and 600 tons of cargo. Later she was used as a cargo and passenger ship to Australia, carrying on one voyage 600 passengers. She had five watertight  bulkheads. 3. PADDLE WHEELS TO PROPELLERS IRON TO STEEL, PISTONS TO TURBINES

In the second half of the 19th century propellers  prevailed and paddle wheels were eventually phased out. Propellers were certainly more efficient and in warships less vulnerable targets. Iron gradually replaced wood and was later replaced by steel, which gave a stronger, but relatively lighter construction. Boiler design progressed in steps from box, to Scotch to water tube, while coal was ultimately replaced by oil. Steam engines went from oscillating to reciprocating, compound in one, two, three or four stages and finally to steam turbine. The  Rattler / Alecto contest in 1845 certainly persuaded most concerned on the merits of the propeller over the  paddle wheels. In the same year Brunnel’s Great Britain, a 322 ft long iron ship with a 1500 horse power steam engine driving one propeller had crossed Atlantic at 12 knots. In 1858 Brunnel’s Great Eastern, a 692 ft long iron ship, with two steam engines for paddle wheels and one steam engine for a propeller, was said to average 15 knots on 300 tons coal / day. In 1861 HMS Warrior , an ironclad warship, with a single cylinder Penn trunk engine needed up to 5 lb (2.3 kg) of coal to generate one horse power per hour. The Sans Pareil in 1888, fitted with triple expansion engines, needed 2.6 lb (1.2 kg) and the Canopus in 1899 just 1.7 lb (0.75 kg). The triple-expansion engine was made possible by improved boilers that produced higher pressures, from 150 to 250 lb / in² (10.5 to 17.5 kg / cm²). The marine  boiler was no longer a simple metal box with water and a furnace underneath. The Scotch boiler, that followed, was cylindrical to better withstand the great pressure. Warships of the late 19th century used water-tube boilers and some with superheaters. Steam engines were also used to power many auxiliary services, such as electric

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light, refrigeration, cargo-handling gear and the gun turrets of warships. A new phase opened in the steam age. Brunel crossed the Atlantic and made long voyages and with great difficulties. By about 1870, three factors  –   the screw  propeller, iron construction, and the triple-expansion engine  –   were in place to allow the steamship to dominate the world. In 1871, the first sail-less battleship, the British  Devastation, took to the seas. In 1884, the tonnage of steamships overtook sailing ships for the first time on the British Register. Sail was now mostly confined to coastal trades. Merchant steamships still retained the capacity to carry sail for some years, but even that had largely disappeared by the 1890s. Steam dominated at sea. 4. DESIGNERS, BUILDERS

The Mahroussa was ordered by Khedive Ismail of Egypt, designed by Sir Oliver Lang, built by Samuda with Engines from John Penn and was completed and delivered in London in 1865. Sir Oliver Lang was the designer. He had been Master Shipwright at H.M. Dockyard, Chatham and in January 1860 had proposed the formation of the Institution of  Naval Architects. He had designed HMY Victoria and   Albert II , a royal yacht for the sovereigns of the United Kingdom, and launched on 16 January 1855 at the Pembroke Yard. Her wooden hull length was 360ft (110m), tonnage 2470 and her 2 John Penn 2400 hp oscillating steam engines, driving side paddles, gave her a speed of 15 knots (28km/h, 17 mph). Her crew complement was 240. [4] The Builder of  Mahroussa was d’Agui lar Samuda, also a founder member of the Institution of Naval Architects and MP for Tavistock. Samuda c.1844 opened a shipyard at Orchard-place, Blackwall, London. For a time, they were the most prolific shipbuilders on the Thames. The type of vessels built ranged from tugs and steam yachts to large warships. In 1856 they built HMS Thunderbolt , the first iron-hulled armour-clad vessel built in Britain with engines from Miller, Ravenhill and Co.  She was completed and launched within four months from ordering. By 1863 the yard was said to be producing double the output of the other London shipyards combined. Orders from Germany, Russia and Japan enabled the firm to survive the 1866 financial crisis which affected many other London yards. In 1877 Togo Heihachiro, supervised the construction of the  Fusō  before returning to Japan. He went on to be heralded as the "Nelson of the East" after he led the Imperial Japanese navy to victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, establishing Japan as a Great Power. Ships built by Samuda : Carnatic, P&O, Tamar , Royal  Navy,1863,  Independencia, Peruvian Navy,1864,  Mahroussa 1865,  Bordein, 1865 ,SMS  Kronprinz , Prussian Navy, 1867,  SMS  Deutschland ,  German Navy 1875,  Fusō , Imperial Japanese Navy,  1877, HMS  Belleisle, Royal Navy, 1876 (originally to be  Bourdjou Zaffer   for Ottoman Empire), HMS Orion ,  Royal Navy

1879 (originally to be  Peik-i-Sheref   for Turkish Navy), ARA  Almirante Brown, Argentine Navy,  1880,  Riachuelo ,  Brazilian Navy, 1883,  HMS Sappho ,  Royal  Navy, 1891. The Engine Builders were John Penn and Sons, a London engineering company who in the 1840’ shifted the focus of the works to marine engines. Their 40 horsepower  beam engines were fitted in the paddle steamers  Ipswich and Suffolk . They followed by improving the oscillating engine that had been patented on  Aaron Manby in 1821. In 1844 they replaced the engines of the Admiralty yacht HMS  Black Eagle with oscillating engines of double the  power, without increasing either the weight or space occupied. Penn introduced trunk engines for driving screw propellers in warships.  HMS  Encounter 1846 and HMS  Arrogant 1848 were the first ships to be fitted with such engines and such was their efficacy that by the time of Penn's death in 1878, the engines had been fitted in 230 ships. Initially, ships were adapted to incorporate these engines, but in 1851, the Navy ordered its first ship specifically designed as a steam-screw auxiliary, HMS  Agamemnon. Penn was also responsible for introducing wood bearings for screw-propeller shafts which became vital to the worldwide use of steam-powered ships. This development of the lignum vitae stern bearing,  which enabled screw propeller ships to make oceanic voyages without wearing out their stern glands, came in collaboration with  Francis Pettit Smith. Another notable achievement was the application of   superheated steam in marine engines. Penn also produced in 1861, the trunk engine for HMS Warrior, a complete iron warship, built with internal wood cladding 24 inch thick. In 1854 they were requested to develop an engine design for the RN gunboats for the  Crimean War of 1854-56. These were the first mass-produced, high-pressure and highrevolution marine engines. Penn was a great friend of Joseph Whitworth,  and employed the precision instruments and tools developed by him. The association with Whitworth was important in the development of mass-produced marine engines. From the obituary to Whitworth in The Times of 24 January 1887: The Crimean War began, and Sir  Charles  Napier demanded of the Admiralty 120 gunboats, each with engines of 60 horsepower, for the campaign of 1855. There were just ninety days in which to meet this requisition, and, short as the time was, the building of the  gunboats presented no difficulty. It was otherwise however with the engines, and the Admiralty were in despair. Suddenly, by a flash of the mechanical genius which was inherent in him, the late Mr John Penn solved the difficulty, and solved it quite easily.  He had a pair of engines on hand of the exact size. He took them to pieces and he distributed the parts among the best machine  shops in the country, telling each to make ninety sets exactly in all respects to the sample. The orders were executed with unfailing regularity, and he actually completed ninety sets of engines of 60 horsepower in ninety days  –   a feat which made the great Continental

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 Powers stare with wonder, and which was possible only because the Whitworth standards of measurement and of accuracy and finish were by that time thoroughly recognised and established throughout the country.

John Penn's firm was a major employer in the Greenwich area with 1800 employed at its Greenwich and Deptford works at its peak. John Penn was also a founder Member of the Institution of Naval Architects. 5. MAHROUSSA

The  Mahroussa (Blessed in Arabic ),  was designed and  built for the Khedive of Egypt. She was iron built, 421.5 feet in length over all, 42.6 feet in beam and drew fifteen feet of water. She had oscillating steam engines and port / starboard paddle wheels. They operated with a steam  pressure of thirty pounds and ran at twenty-six and a half revolutions per minute. The 6 boilers were the old tank type. About one thousand tons of coal were carried. There were also masts and auxiliary sails. Her load displacement was over 4,000 tons. Horse power was given as 3200 and maximum speed on sea trials was said to be 15.5 knots. According to the Malta Times in 1866 on her maiden voyage, she covered the distance of 2226 nautical miles, from Southampton to Valetta, in 157 hours, an average of 14.18 knots and a coal consumption of about 7 tons / hour. There were four decks, upper, second, main and lower with double bottoms under and throughout and large coal  bunkers. On the lower deck, the boilers and steam engines were mid ships and adjacent to the port and starboard paddle wheels. The accommodation was very large. It was divided into three parts, aft for the Khedive and the Haremlik, midships for the captain and officers, and forward for the crew and soldiers. The aft part was most elegant. The main saloon was a magnificently furnished space with seven large windows at the stern, and five on each side, all of plate-glass. Below this saloon then were large state cabins and sleeping apartments. They were excellent in size and accommodation, but their windows were high up and not made to open, as they were only a few feet above the water. Another drawback was that the two high funnels, near the centre of the vessel, were sources of intense heat. In 1872 she sailed back to England for lengthening by 40 feet (12 m). In 1894 her boilers were changed in Alexandria by Hassabo Yard. In 1905 at Inglis, Glasgow, the paddle wheels, mast rigging and sails were removed, she was lengthened by a further 16.5 feet (5 m), making her total length 478 feet (146 m) and she was fitted with three of the early Parsons steam turbines, shafts and  propellers. A. & J. Inglis, Shipbuilders, Engineers and Boilermakers were established in Glasgow in 1862 and built over 500 ships in the next 100 years. Steam Paddlers, Ferries, Warships, Ocean Liners, Yachts and others. They also  built some Clippers. In 1894 they built the Egyptian Royal Yacht SS Safra El-Bahr  and the Khedive of Egypt made John Inglis Commander of the Order of Osmanlieh.

Inglis were one of the first companies licensed by the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company, Wallsend, for the manufacture of steam turbines in their own works. In 1905, the modifications of the SS Mahroussa  were undertaken together with the installation of steam turbines. In 1907 the shipyard built the British Royal Yacht  Alexandra , 300 ft (90m) LBP, 40 ft (12.7) beam, 13 ft (4m) draft, with 3 Parsons turbines, 3500 hp, 17 knots. In 1908 yacht TS Vanadis   was built of steel, rigged as a triple screw schooner, 249 ft length, 32.5  beam, with steam turbines and triple screws, 3000 hp, 18 knots. Glasgow University made John Inglis an Honorary Doctor of Laws. In 1893 the Institution of Engineers & Shipbuilders of Scotland and in 1900 the Institute of Marine Engineers elected him as President. Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine in 1884, and, having foreseen its potential to power ships, he set up the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in 1893.He had the experimental vessel Turbinia   built in steel by Brown and Hood, at Wallsend on Tyne . Turbinia   was launched on 2 August 1894. Despite the success of the turbine engine, initial trials with one  propeller were disappointing. Discovering the problem of cavitation Parsons' research led to him fitting three axialflow turbines to three shafts, each shaft in turn driving three propellers, giving a total of nine propellers. In trials this achieved a top speed of over 34 knots.

Parsons' ship turned up unannounced at the Navy Review for  Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee at Spithead, on 26 June 1897, in front of the Prince of Wales, Lords of the Admiralty and foreign dignitaries. The Turbinia, which was much faster than any ship at the time, raced between the two lines of navy ships and steamed up and down in front of the crowd and princes, while easily evading a  Navy picket boat that tried to pursue her. Turbinia’s characteristics were: Length:104 ft 9 in (31.93 m), beam: 9 ft (2.7 m), draught: 3 ft (0.91 m). Three-stage axialflow direct acting Parsons steam turbines driving two 2 ft 6 in (3.81 m) outer shafts, each with three 18 in (460 mm) diameter, 24 in (610 mm) pitch propellers, and one inner shaft with three propellers. 2,100 hp (1,600 kW). Three-drum water-tube coal-fired boiler with double ended 1,100 square feet (100 m2) heating surface 200 psi (1.4 MPa), 170 psi (1.2 MPa) at the turb ine. [5] Parsons set up the Turbinia Works at Wallsend, which then constructed the engines for two turbine-powered similar destroyers for the Navy, HMS Viper, and  HMS Cobra ,  223 ft (68 m), with Yarrow boilers, Parsons turbines, 4 shafts, 11,500 hp, 36.6 knots, in 1899. The first turbine-powered merchant vessel, the Clyde steamer TS  King Edward , 250.5 ft (76.4 m), with Scotch boilers, Parsons turbines, 3500 hp, 20.5 knots followed in 1901 and the yacht  Emerald , 198 ft, with 3 turbines, 1 shaft with 1 propeller, 2 shafts with 2 propellers each, 14.5 knots, followed in 1903. [6] [7] The 5 propellers were to mitigate the problem of cavitation, due to the turbines’ high revolutions, they created however vibrations and noise. The installation

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Historic Ships, 25-26 November 2014, London, UK

was therefore modified to each 1 shaft having only 1  propeller, with new diameters and new positions. This  became Parson’s practice at the time, following various earlier combinations on various ships. The  Mahroussa   in 1905 was among the very early ships to convert to steam turbine propulsion and specifically Parsons turbines with an installation similar to the Turbinia’s and her early successors. Little publicity was given to these and other works, but it appears that the  boilers were also changed, electric lighting installed, extra deck added - boatdeck - and the accommodation extensively renovated. At the time Scotch boilers had been prevalent since the 1870s while watertube boilers started being fitted on ships in the 1900s. Electric lights had been fitted in the USA by Edison on a commercial ship ss Columbia in 1880 and a warship USS Trenton  in 1883. The latter cost US$5,500 for one dynamo and one Armington Simmo engine to supply light via wiring, socket, switches, etc to 130 10 candle and 4 32 - candle lamps. The Admiralty confirmed in 1905 that all future Royal  Navy vessels were to be turbine-powered, and in 1906 the first turbine-powered battleship, the revolutionary HMS  Dreadnought , was launched, 530 ft long 18 Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers rooms, 2 paired sets of Parsons direct drive steam turbines in separate engine rooms and driving 2 shafts each, with 8 ft 10 inch (2.69 m) diameter 3 bladed propellers, 23,000 hp, 21 knots. [8] The following is from a paper read at the Royal Institution on 4th May 1906 by Sir Charles A. Parsons:  In 1900 there were 75.000 horse-power of turbines on land, and 25.000 on sea. In 1906 there are more than two million horse-power at work on land, and 800,000 horse-power at work or building for use at sea. There are at present afloat, equipped with turbines: 3 Pleasure  steamers, 6 Yachts, 9 Cross-channel steamers, 3  Destroyers, 5 Ocean-going vessels, 2 Cruis ers, 3 Atlantic liners. Yet it cannot be said that the turbine engine is  superseeding the reciprocating engine generally. On land, the chief application of the turbine is in large electrical generating stations, and its adoption, in  preference to the piston engine, in its most perfect development of compound, triple, or quadruple expansion engine, is becoming general in this field of work . [9] The  Mahroussa subsequently kept well up to date with changes and developments. In 1912 she was fitted with wireless telegraph. In 1919 in Portsmouth she converted from coal to oil, with the necessary rearrangement of coal bunkers to oil tanks and with all the necessary auxillary equipment. She remained classed with Lloyd’s Register of Shipping and her particulars in the 1936 Register were : M ahroussa  / Iron / Wireless / Triple Screw Schooner 1568 NT / 3762 GT / 3658 Thames 478 ft LOA, 42.6 ft Breadth, 26.5 ft Depth  Builders : Samuda Bros, Designers : O. Lang 1865 3 Steam Turbines 5NB & 1 AuxB Inglis, Gls. 1905 Owner : HM King of Egypt Port : Alexandria

The following from Jan e’s 1946 : 3 Parsons turbines 3 shafts 5500 SHP 16 knots In 1949 The  Mahroussa   was sent by King Farouk to Ansaldo Shipyard in Genoa for complete renovation. She was fitted with 2 modern steam turbines, made by Ansaldo, to give a top speed of 18 knots. Apparently she was also fitted with new boilers. One more steel deck was added  –   promenade deck  –   and the entire accommodation was rearranged, upgraded and modernised. Furthermore, she was equipped with modern navigation and radio equipment  –   Gyroscope, Radar, Direction Finder etc. The Boat Deck was for Bridge and Lifeboats, Promenade Deck was for Senior Ship’s Deck Officers forward and some Offices and Reception Rooms aft, Upper Deck had Winter and Summer Verandas, Blue Hall and Royal Summer Suites, Second Upper Deck had Forecastle Windlass, Winches forward, Dining Hall and Smoking Hall aft, Main Deck had Pharaonic Reception Hall, Royal Winter Suites, Princesses Suites aft and Galleys, Lockers and Crew Accomodation forward, Lower Deck was Tanks, Boilers, Machinery. There were 12 watertight doors, four lifts and two garages. The Press of the day described The  Mahroussa   as the World’s most luxurious yacht and her royal quarters decorated and furnished in the style and splendour of an ancient Pharaoh’s Palace. The y also reported that on completion in December 1951, about two and half billion lire –  about £ 1,800,000 –  would have been spent. Her 1954 Lloyd’s Register entry is: M ahroussa  / Iron / Electric light / 5 Decks Steel/  DF Radar GyC. Wireless Twin Screw Schooner 1598 NT / 3759 GT / 3658 Thames 478 ft LOA, 42.6 Breadth, 24.3 Depth  Builders : Samuda Bros Designers : O. Lang 1865 2 Steam Turbines, Ansaldo 1951 Owner : Egyptian Government Port : Alexandria 6. OPERATIONS

The social history of the  Mahroussa   is equally interesting. She was launched in August 1865 by Mrs Charles Oppenheim. During construction Frederico Fedrigo Bey supervised on behalf of the Khedive. She was completed and delivered in 1866 and sailed from Southampton to Alexandria, Egypt, via Malta. Her commander on this maiden voyage was Captain Fedrigo Bey, later Pacha and Admiral of the Egyptian Navy. In Alexandria she was assigned to the service of the Khedive. One of her early voyages however was as a troop carrier to Crete in 1867, when the Khedive sent assistance to the Ottoman Sultan to quell a local uprising. In 1868 Khedive Ismail sailed on her to France for the Paris International Exhibition. In 1869 he again sailed on her to Marseilles to invite his guests to the official opening of the Suez Canal in November 1869. Many distinguished personalities attended from all over the world. More than 100 ships gathered off Port Said to  participate in the first crossing of the Canal from the

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Mediterranean to the Red Sea. Yacht  L’Aigle  with Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III of France, commanded by Captain Coste, yacht Greif   Fantaisie with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria Hungary, P&O liner  Delta, HMS  Newport , commanded by Captain George Nares and many others. Welcoming them all on the  Mahroussa , Khedive Ismail, together with Ferdinand de Lesseps, the creator of the Suez Canal and Nubar Pacha, Egypt’s Prime Minister. There were also ships sailing in north from Suez on the Red Sea. There were many festivities along the Canal, in Port Said, Ismailia and Suez, while many guests were also taken to the temples of Luxor and the Pyramids and the Opera in Cairo. [10] [11] In “Recollections of Egyptian Princesses” - Zeynab and Kopses  –  their governess Ellen Chennels remembers on their voyage from Alexandria to Constantinople in 1872:  It was a hurried voyage. The Mahroussa was “ said to be one of the fastest boats built”, and that “speed was to be our object, and to that all was sacrificed.” The ship travelled at 14 knots per hour “though I believe that is not her greatest speed.” Indeed, it had no less than “four engines, each of 800 horsepower.” On the other hand,  such a powerful and fast ship was not always comfortable. “A great drawback to us, however, was that two tremendous chimneys were near the centre of the vessel, so that the deck on which we passed our time lay between t hem. The heat was intense…” [12]

In 1879 Khedive Ismail sailed on the  Mahroussa to  Naples, Italy, following his abdication in favour of his son Tawfik. In 1899 she sailed from Alexandria to Port  –  Said for the unveiling of the statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps. In 1914 Khedive Abbas Hilmi sailed to his exile in Constantinople. In 1939  Mahroussa  brought from Beirut to Alexandria Reza Pahlavi, heir to the Shah of Persia, for his marriage with Princess Fawzia, sister of King Farouk. In 1946 she  brought to Egypt from Jeddah King Abdul Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia for the Arab League Conference. In 1952 King Farouk sailed to Naples, Italy and his own exile following the Naguib, Nasser coup d’etat. In 1956 she was renamed  El-Horriya (Liberty) and made many trips worldwide with Presidents Nasser, Sadat, Mubarak. In 1975 she sailed through the Suez Canal on the reopening ceremony after the Egypt / Israel war of 1973. In 1976 she sailed to New York for the international celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the United States of America and also to Haifa with President Sadat on an official visit to Israel. She is also used by the Egyptian Navy Academy as a training ship. She is kept an excellent operational order and is frequently open to the public for visits. So far she has travelled about 400,000 miles and in 2015 will be 150 years old. 7. STEAM YACHTS

The age of the Steam Yachts can be said to be between the 1850s and the 1950s. The Royal and State Heads’ Yachts were followed by the Millionaires’ in Europe and America. Oscillating steam engines were followed by

reciprocating compounds and then by steam turbines. Boilers were Box, then Scotch, then Watertube, originally fired by coal then oil fuel. Paddle wheels were followed by propellers. [13] Earlier, wood had been replaced by iron, which was followed by steel, while sail had been gradually phased out. Nevertheless, hull forms had been maintained and there were early periods of combinations on some ships for either safety, economy or necessity, with sail together with steam, paddles with propellers and even reciprocating engines with turbines. Great Britain’s Victoria and Albert II 1855, 350ft long was wood, Austria-Hungary’s  Fantaisie   1857, 176 ft, France’s L’ Aigle 1858, 160ft, Holland’s  De Valk 1864, 250ft, Egypt’s  Mahroussa 1865, 421 ft, Germany’s  Kaiseradler  1875, 268 ft, were all iron. They all had oscillating steam engines and paddle wheels. [14]

In the years that followed yachts had mostly reciprocating engines, most triple expansion, but some quadruple. Boilers were mostly Scotch, but eventually the watertube boilers prevailed. Equally propellers replaced paddle wheels on yachts. Particulars of some of these vessels  Name/Date/Length/Boiler/Engine/hp/Speed Semiramis 1889/225/1/1/635/14 Corsair II 1890/241/2/1/2000/17 Cleopatra  1893/217/1/1/750 /12.5 Givalda 1894/306/5/2/7400/22.5  Mayflower  1897/318/2/2/2400/16.5

were

: [15]

After the Turbinia some yachts were fitted with Parsons direct drive turbines, most with watertube boilers. Some of the examples are : Tarantula  1902/153/2/3/2500/23.3  Alexandra 1907/325/3/3/4500/18.8  Isabel  1917/243/2/2/8500/28.8 Direct drive however had problems with type and number of propellers, which led to the turbo-electric alternative: Viking 1929/272/2/2/2680/16.5 Corsair II 1930/343/4/2/6000/17 Another development was geared steam turbines :  Nahlin  1930/300/2/2/4000/17.4 Savarona 1931/408/4/2/10.750/21 Grille 1934/443/4/2/22,000/26 The advantages of steam turbines, at the time, in size,  power, manoeuvrability and speed for warships and  passenger ships were not compatible with the requirements of yachts that were relatively smaller and where none of these parameters were vital, where vibrations and noise were most undesirable and where considerations of space and weights as well as operational personnel were decisive. The Monarchs of Egypt were among the first to acquire Steamer Megayachts. Mohamed Said in 1849 had the Sayed Pacha  an iron, paddle steamer, 156 ft length 17 ft  breadth 2.5 ft draught, 245 gt 115nt, built by Caird, Greenock.

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Khedive Ismail in 1865 had the  Mahroussa  built in England. He also had the  Bordein, also an iron paddle steamer, 140 ft length, 12/26 ft breadth, 3.5 ft draught, 40 hp, 10 knots, built by the same Yard in London.

and differences. Ultimately it is a matter of cross reference and coordination, of the various personalities or groups involved that can bring achievement and success.

In 1894 the Safa el Bahr , 220 ft length, 27 ft breadth, 12.5 ft draught, 690 grt, 690 Thames, 2 Boilers, 1 Triple Expansion Engine 18” -29” -48”x46” stroke, 1200 hp 14.1 knots, was built by Inglis Glasgow. In 1915-1919 she was hired by the Royal Navy as a Patrol Boat, in 1920 she was bought by Drakoulis and renamed  Ithaca, in 1929 she was bought by Hellenic Coast Lines, Piraeus, in 20/04/1941, during World War 2, she was bombed and sunk.

One remembers fondly colleagues struggling with eminent interior designers in passenger ships and yachts, others with naval officers and all with shipyards, engine  builders and class. Cargo ships and tankers are relatively simpler with charterer and oil company requirements, some port and canal authorities and ever increasing rules and regulations. It is however a fascinating life and we all hope for creative examples like the  Mahroussa’s.

In 1926 King Fuad had the  Kassed Kheir , steel, paddle steamer, 237.7 ft length, 32 ft breadth, 3.5 ft draught, 1,111 ton Thames, triple expansion engines, built by Thornycroft, Southampton, in sections and shipped out to  be assembled and launched on the Nile. Her Waring & Gillow’s design was to be on the lines of Thomas Cook’s  Nile boats. She ended up in 1958 as an annex to a Cairo hotel and is believed to be still there. It is noted Sayed Pacha ,  Bordein and  Kassed Kheir   all had very shallow draughts and could thus navigate the  Nile. Egypt has a long tradition of Nile River steam  boats, w ith Thomas Cook’ s tourist boats to Upper Egypt and the Anglo-Egyptian expedition gunboats in the Sudan in end 19th century. The wreck of the  Bordein in Khartoum is currently being restored by the Melik Society. [16] There are great similarities between large steam yachts and river boats. For different reasons their golden ages coincided. Increased commerce on the Rhine, Danube and Volga, explorations conquest and settlement on the  Nile, Yangtse and Amazon, adventure on the Mississippi, while yachts reflected the politics, economics and  prosperity of the times. 8. CONCLUSIONS

The  Mahroussa is a brilliant achievement in technology, development innovation and longevity. Built in an age of transition from sail to steam, from wood to iron, she started with oscillating steam engines, box boilers and  paddle wheels. Later, in pioneer times, she was with the first to switch the revolutionary Parsons steam turbines, Scotch boilers and propellers. Later again she was fitted with newer modern up to date steam turbines and boilers and converted from coal to oil. Simultaneously, through the years, she was lengthened, had more decks fitted, accommodation renovated and upgraded and fitted with electric lighting, then wireless, then radar, gyro, lifts, garages etc. All this involved hard and diligent work based on science, knowledge, experience and creativity. Yachts hold a special place in the design and building of ships as compared to warships, passenger ships, the simpler cargo ships and tankers and elsewhere river  boats, tugboats, service boats and others. The various disciplines, technical and others, have both similarities

9. FIGURES

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Victoria & Albert II c. 1855 Mahroussa c. 1865/1906/1952 Mahroussa Dining Room 1865 Turbinia Propellers Mahroussa Turbines 1906 `Mahroussa in Egypt c. 1910 Mahroussa Engines/Propellers 1926 Mahroussa GA Plans. Ansaldo 1952 El Horriya c. 1960 El Horriya Staircase 2007 El Horriya Dining Room 2007 El Horriya Pharaonic Saloon 2007

10. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Dr Mohamed Awad, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Harry Tzallas, Marine Archeologist and my colleagues Sam Biggs, Yanna Vrettou and Hara Pikoula have given great help and inspiration in preparing this paper. I am grateful and convey to them my many thanks. 11. REFERENCES

1. B. Lavery : Ship (National Maritime Museum)  Dorling Kindersley 2004 2. L. Sondhaus : Naval Warfare 1815-1914 3. R.A. Fletcher : Steamships  J.B. Lippincott   1910 4. J.W. Sothern : En gineering Magazine 5. T. Stevens / H.M. Hobart : Steam Turbine Engineering Whittaker  1906 6. A. Deayton & I. Quinn : Turbine Excursion Steamer 7. R. Parsons: Steam Turbine / Other Parsons In ventions 8. C.A. Parsons : The Steam Turbine  Rede Lecture 1911 9. C.A. Parsons : The Steam Turbine/Land and at Sea  Royal Institution 1906 10. A. Byzantios : The Suez  ESTIA 1895 11. John Pudney : Suez : De Lesseps’ Canal  John Pudney  1968 12. E. Chennels : Recollections of Egyptian Princesses 13. S.W. Barnaby : The Trend of Steam Yacht Building 14. R. Crabtree : Royal Yachts of Europe  David & Charles  1975 15. E. Hofman : The Steam Yachts. An Era of Elegance  Nautical Publishing  1970 16. W. S. Churchill : The River War  Eyre & Spottiswood 1899

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12. AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY Dimitri G. CAPAITZIS BSc ACGI CEng FRINA FIMarEST FSCMESS MIMechE 1955 Graduate City & Guilds, Imperial College, University of London. 1956/7 Apprentice at British Shipyards and at sea. 1958/75 Superintendent Engineer  –   new buildings and repairs - with Rethymnis & Kulukundis, then C.M. Lemos, then Manager with M. Marcou, all in London. 1976/2010 Consultant, in both London and Piraeus, acting for clients in general shipping technical, management and legal work, also in contracting, specifications, planning and supervision of 160 new  buildings and 7 conversions worldwide. 16 Papers.

1 - Victoria & Albert II c. 1855

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2 Mahroussa c. 1865/1906/1952

3 - Mahroussa Dining Room 1865

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4 - Turbinia Propellers

5 - Mahroussa Turbines 1906

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6 - Mahroussa Egypt c.1910

7 - Mahroussa Engines / Propellers 1926

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8 - Mahroussa GA plans, Ansaldo 1952

9 - El Horriya c. 1960\

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10 - El Horriya. Staircase 2007

11 - El Horriya Dining Room 2007

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12 - El Horriya Pharonic Saloon 2007

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