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11th August 2015, 12:31 PM
#1
The El-Mahrousa Yacht
l-Mahrousa yacht: A history entwined with the Suez Canal
The presidential yacht was the first ship to cross the Suez Canal in 1869, and was the first vessel to pass through the new extension on Thursday 6th August 2015.
Mahrousa Yacht arriving at Port Said in its way to Suez Canal from Alexandria on 31 July 2015 (Photo Courtesy : Sameh Abdel Khalek)
At the heart of the preparations for the inauguration of the new Suez Canal waterway last Thursday the 150-year-old presidential yacht, El-Mahrousa, stands out because of its long association with the Suez Canal.
A photo for El-Mahrousa Yacht in its way to Syria carrying President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1960 ( Photo : Al-Ahram Archives )
The ship is the oldest active yacht in the world, and the seventh largest.
El-Mahrousa is still in service, and on Thursday it carried President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and his guests from all over the world along the new waterway, the largest-ever addition to the canal.
Many Egyptians still associated El-Mahrousa with the Suez Canal and with Egypt's former royal family, but the history of the ship goes beyond those associations.
The story of the yacht began in 1863 when Egypt's ruler, Khedive Ismail, ordered the British shipbuilding pioneers the Samuda brothers, who were based in London, to build him a royal yacht. The luxurious vessel was designed by Oliver Lang, who designed Queen Victoria's first steam yacht, with the aim of being a state-of-the-art ocean-going steamer.
In August 1865 , the 411-foot and 5-floor vessel was handed over to its Egyptian crew, who sailed it from the River Thames to Alexandria.
Two years later the yacht embarked on its first official mission, transferring Egyptian troops to aid the Ottoman forces that were cracking down on the Cretan revolt in Greece.
The strong historical bond between the yacht and the Suez Canal began in 1869, before the canal was opened. Early in the year Khedive Ismail took his yacht on a tour of Europe to invite kings, queens and emperors of the continent to attend the inauguration of the Suez Canal.
In November 1869, El-Mahrousa became the first ship to officially pass through the newly inaugurated waterway.
On board alongside the khedive was Eugénie de Montijo, empress of France and wife of Napoleon III, who gave the khedive a piano as a gift. It is still located on the yacht today.
Other well-known figures who have been on board include Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran; King Abdelaziz Al-Saud, the founder of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Josip Tito, ruler of Yugoslavia, and Menachem Begin, Israeli prime minister.
King Abdelaziz Al-Saud, the founder of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia on El-Mahrousa yacht in 1946 (Photo: Al-Ahram Archives)
Brian Probetts (site admin)
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12th August 2015, 06:12 AM
#2
Re: The El-Mahrousa Yacht
Thank you Brian
A very interesting read and a lovely Pic of the Yacht! Looks more like a small passenger Ship!
Cheers
Oh the rich and famous!
Senior Site Moderator-Member and Friend of this Website
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12th August 2015, 06:38 AM
#3
Re: The El-Mahrousa Yacht
It would appear she is some ship to have lasted for so long.
Last edited by happy daze john in oz; 12th August 2015 at 06:39 AM.
Happy daze John in Oz.
Life is too short to blend in.
John Strange R737787
World Traveller
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12th August 2015, 06:49 AM
#4
Re: The El-Mahrousa Yacht
Not only a credit to her builders but also those who have maintained her throughout the years and updated the lifeboat davits as radial davits were still in use when she was built and she has the Mcpherson wind out type now (I think they were called McPherson or something like that)
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22nd October 2015, 09:55 AM
#5
Re: The El-Mahrousa Yacht
#5... Is that the same porn that could be bought in Port said for a few bob, Richard. JS
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22nd October 2015, 12:54 PM
#6
Re: The El-Mahrousa Yacht
My Dad met Farouk and his dad King Fuad of Egypt when they came to Bolton in the 1920s and spoke to him about the process of spinning.
They visited the mill where my Dad worked, Musgrave Cotton Spinning Mill, the largest Cotton Spinning mill in the whole world at that time, Spinning Egyptian Cotton, the best cotton of all. employed over 3,000 workers then. Bolton was known throughout the world then as King Cotton. Closed down by Harold Wilson after his Lima Agreement in 1967, and all the machinery transferred to India.
I worked in the same mill for a year in 1951, while waiting to go to the VINDI.
Brian
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