Imperial Yacht Meteor I

Being a passionate sailor, the German Emperor Wilhelm II was looking for a racing yacht to participate with at the Cowes Week in 1891. The Cowes Week is the world’s oldest, regularly held sailing regatta. Due to his strong ties with England, the Emperor’s decision in favour of the speedy racing cutter Thistle was easily made. The Thistle was ordered in 1886 and subsequently constructed by George Lennox Watson. The ship was laid down in the same year near the D.& W. Henderson shipyard in Clyde (today’s Glasgow).

By British yacht building standards, the Thistle was quite an innovation. Instead of the usual fully-wooden construction or the combination of steel and wood, the Thistle was completely made of steel. Due to its 70 tons of lead ballast in the keel, the yacht was able to compensate for the 10 ton rigging with a mast height of 34 meters and a main boom length of 23.5 meters. Only the incredible keel weight made such overrigging possible at all. Large pelmets and the ship’s distinctively curved bow made for quite an elegant appearance of the Thistle. Despite the ship’s size it wasn’t steered with a wheel, but with a tiller 5 meters long instead. The crew’s quarters and the galley were located in the front, the Lady’s cabin was in the stern. In-between were the saloon as well as the owner’s quarters and the guest cabins.

After construction and launching, both of which were carried out in great secrecy, the Thistle was victorious one time after another. The German Emperor Wilhelm supposedly purchased the ship for an amount of 90,000 gold marks. Paying great attention to detail, the designer, Watson, now rebuilt the Thistle into the imperial Meteor. Not only the designer, but also the Scottish crew and captain of the ship, were retained by the German Emperor. The yacht was of such importance to the emperor, that he personally took charge of many details, even the buttons on the crew’s uniforms were picked by himself. In the summer of 1891 the German Emperor was finally able to receive the Meteor, which in 1892 subsequently participated in all major regattas held on the British Islands. At the Cowes Week the Emperor rode personally on his ship in two races - and won. He could be sure of the recognition of British sailors towards him. After the Meteor had so impressively livened up the sailing scene, four new cutters were entered for Cowes Week in 1893. Among those was the Britannia, which had been ordered by the Prince of Wales, the German Emperor’s uncle Bertie, from the same shipyard and constructor that had previously built the Thistle. Against these new contestants the Emperor saw his winning chance dwindle away, and so he decided to only enter his yacht in the Queens Cup. Only after imperial protest the Meteor I was declared victorious, after the Valkyrie had proven to be the faster ship. The Britannia on the other hand was highly successful and dominated the sailing sport in Great Britain for years to come. Even though the German Emperor congratulated his uncle on every victory, inwardly he was eaten by ambition. He made the Meteor I a gift to the German Navy, which rerigged the ship and named it Comet. As a training ship it was to serve for the training of German yacht sailors. In 1921 the Comet was taken out of service and broken up, while the German Emperor ordered his new yacht, the Meteor II, in 1895 in Scotland to be able to compete with his uncle’s Britannia.