Northern Ireland's farewell to TS Royalist - Reserve Forces and Cadets Association for Northern Ireland

TS Royalist, the Sea Cadet Corp’s flagship vessel, recently made a final visit to the port of Belfast before it is decommissioned. This visit provided an excellent opportunity to promote the Sea Cadets in Northern Ireland, who have a very active membership throughout the Province.

A reception was held on the Queens Quay beside the Odyssey Arena where many invited guests including VIP’s witnessed TS Royalist pulling away from the Queens Quay for the very last time.

Royalist was built by Groves and Guttridge, Cowes, Isle of Wight. She was designed by Colin Mudie RDI and launched on 3 August 1971 by the Princess Royal. In 1992, Royalist was taken out of the water for a refit, termed as a “Mid-Life Upgrade, and was once again re-launched by the Princess Royal. She is built of steel, with an overall length of 29 metres (97 feet) (including the bowsprit, which adds about 6 metres onto her overall length), and has a traditional square-rigged brig layout. Due for the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in June and Brest International Festival of the Sea in July 2012.

On 26 July 2013 a £4.8million contract was awarded to Spanish shipyard Astilleros Gondan S.A, and designers Acubens to build the Sea Cadets a new 21st Century flagship which will take thousands of cadets on an offshore voyage.

The new ship will replace TS Royalist, which is now over 40years old and has become increasingly expensive to maintain.

The new and innovative design offers greater use of space, with better all-round sailing ability and performance. Faster and easier to handle than Royalist, the new ship is also more economical to run. This makes it ideal for offering young people offshore sailing, helping them to learn greater seamanship and sailing skills. The ship is expected to be in service for 40 years.

Despite a new vessel coming into service we cannot forget that TS Royalist has hosted many cadets over her 40 years in service, and at the end of this year when she comes out of service it closes a chapter in the Sea Cadet history.