HMNS Liberty
Encyclopedia
HMNS Liberty was a private steam yacht and later 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...
hospital ship
Hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones....
, which was one of the largest private yachts of its day.
Built in 1908 for Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911), born Politzer József, was a Hungarian-American newspaper publisher of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the New York World. Pulitzer introduced the techniques of "new journalism" to the newspapers he acquired in the 1880s and became a leading...
as TMY Liberty, she was sold on his death in 1912 to Scottish-Canadian businessman James Ross
James Ross (Canadian businessman)
James L. Ross , was a Scottish-born Canadian civil engineer and businessman, who developed his fortune in railway construction.-Early life:...
, and renamed TMY Glencairn. Having sailed around the world in her once, after his death in 1913, she was sold by his estate in 1914 to Courtenay Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar
Courtenay Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar
Courtenay Charles Evan Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar OBE, VD , was a British peer.Morgan was the eldest son of the Honourable Frederick Courtenay Morgan, of Ruperra Castle, third son of Charles Morgan, 1st Baron Tredegar. His mother was Charlotte Anne, daughter of Charles Alexander Wilkinson, of...
, who reverted her to her original name.
At the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy as a hospital ship, operting within the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
and initially under the command of her owner. Refitted post war, Viscount Tredegar embarked on a world cruise, eventually going around the world twice in her, during which time he visited every colony in the British Empire and every state in the Commonwealth.
Sold to Sir Robert Houston, 1st Baronet
Sir Robert Houston, 1st Baronet
Sir Robert Paterson Houston, 1st Baronet was a British Conservative Party politician and shipowner. He was born to a maritime engineer from Renfrewshire, and after an apprenticeship in Liverpool Houston also became an engineer...
in the mid-1920s, he died on the yacht on 14 April 1926. Left in his will to his wife Lucy, Lady Houston
Lucy, Lady Houston
Lucy, Lady Houston, DBE , born Fanny Lucy Radmall, was an English benefactor, philanthropist, adventuress and patriot.-Early life:...
, in the 1930s she hung a huge electric sign, DOWN WITH MACDONALD THE TRAITOR in the rigging, and sailed round the British Isles in her.
Sold for scrap, she was towed to Newport, Monmouthshire to be dismantled in January 1938.