Rover (yacht)

The Rover was a steam-powered yacht built in 1930 by Alexander Stephen and Sons in Glasgow, Scotland for Lord Inchcape, then chairman of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O). Built as Stephen's Yard No. 527, she was 265 ft long with a beam of 40 ft and a tonnage of 2,115, and was considered "the most luxurious ever built on the Clyde".

Description
The yacht's figurehead was a likeness of Lord Inchcape's daughter, Elsie Mackay, who disappeared whilst attempting to fly the Atlantic in 1928. With accommodation for up to 14 guests, the yacht was painted green and white at launch with a predominantly silver-coloured dining room.

The Rover's staterooms featured en-suite marbled bathrooms. Dancing and games were staged on the open decks. Long-distance fuel tanks permitted long round-the-world voyages. During Cowes Week in August 1930, she was visited by the then King George V and Queen Mary.

Later career
After Lord Inchcape's death aboard the Rover in Monte Carlo's Port Hercules harbour on 23May 1932, rumours circulated that the Aga Khan would buy the yacht, while a rumoured deal with King Carol II of Romania also fell through. However, a year later she was bought, unseen, by American businessman Howard Hughes and renamed Southern Cross. She was subsequently sold to Swedish entrepreneur Axel Wenner-Gren, under whose ownership she helped rescue survivors from the SS Athenia (1922), the first ship to be sunk by Nazi Germany during World War II.

The vessel subsequently served in the Mexican Navy as Orizaba until she was scrapped around 1960.

Photographs

 * Starboard broadside view
 * "Owner's Room"