The Yacht, originally the St Katharine, 130ft in length with a 26ft beam, was commissioned by the Port of London Authority in 1927 from Philip and Son Ltd of Dartmouth for the princely sum of £21,512.

She was employed on survey and inspection work until the outbreak of war in 1939 when she was taken over by the Admiralty. Fitted with a three pounder and twin lewis guns she was manned by the Royal Navy Reserve Crew when in November of that year she saw action as guardship for the Medway Channel in the Thames Estuary. Enemy aircraft attempted to drop parachute mines into the river and were driven off by the St Katharine's fire, thus making her the first vessel to engage the enemy in the Port of London.

In 1946 she was released back to the Port of London Authority and following a complete refit in Southampton returned to service and became a cruise ship for visiting VIP's, including the Queen Mother, Prince Philip, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Clement Attlee, Lord Fisher (Archbishop of Canterbury), Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Benazir Bhutto and former Soviet Prime Ministers Malenkov and Breznev. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visited the Yacht in 1949 and then again 10 years later.

Sir Winston Churchill smoked one of his famous cigars of the stern of the Top Deck, the site of our new Martell Cigar Lounge.

In 1971 the St Katharine was sold to Robins (Marine) Ltd to be used as a floating restaurant and she has now been carefully restored in close consultation with English Heritage and PLA Archivists to bring her back to her former glory, retaining many original features of the Art Deco era with a twist of contemporary design. The original stained glass window with the Port of London crest and motto "Floreat Imperii Purtvs" - Let the Imperial Port Flourish - still stands proudly at the heart of the vessel.

Click here for orginal footage of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and HRH The Duke of Kent visiting and travelling on board the yacht in 1959.