The following is the text from the booklet produced by Lloyd's Register
to commemorate the reclassifiaction of Madiz in October 2007

CELEBRATION
THE REMARKABLE HISTORY OF MADIZ

To commemorate the occasion of the presentation of Lloyd’s Register’s Class Certificate +100A1 to Madiz, 105 years after her construction.

It was Lloyd’s Register surveyor Captain Thomas Menzies who, in 1853, suggested the use of the Maltese Cross to indicate a vessel had been built under special survey. This is thought to be the first use of a quality mark anywhere in the world.

+100A1: The use of the number 100 came in response to the advent of iron (and later, steel) ships and the notation +100A1 was first used in 1870.

Today, the notation is used for all types of ship that meet the appropriate standards.

Built in 1902 to luxurious standards, the steel-hulled sloop has had a rich and illustrious career, encompassing military service during World Wars I and II, a brief period hosting royalty and an appearance in the British television series Agatha Christie’s Poirot. She has also, of course, carried many owners and their guests in great comfort and style on cruises all over the world.

Now enjoying a life of leisure cruising in the Mediterranean, she has been lovingly restored to her former glory, the elegance and style of her heyday recaptured for generations to come.

Today, at 105 years of age, she is the oldest surviving steel vessel to be classed .100A1.

Renovation and repair

Although Madiz’s original steelwork was highly resistant to corrosion, some parts needed to be renewed. Therefore, extensive internal and external re-plating work was carried out. Madiz’s equipment was also overhauled and repaired, including her main engines, windlass, rudder and propellers. In addition, her piping system was almost entirely replaced.

Modernisation

Madiz has undergone extensive modernisation so that she meets the highest standards of comfort and safety. This has included the extension of her fuel tanks, the addition of a new water tank and the installation of a new generator and sewage treatment system.

Her refit complete, Madiz underwent a Special Survey in August 2006 and was awarded the .100A1 notation, becoming the oldest surviving steel vessel to be re-classed .100A1 with Lloyd's Register.

She was designed by G.L.Watson, a famous naval architect who in 1873 established the first yacht design office in the world. He designed many famous yachts, including the America’s Cup challengers Thistle, Valkyrie II, Valkyrie III and Shamrock II and the legendary Britannia, which remains the most successful racing yacht of all time.

Triton was built for James Coats junior, a well-known Scottish philanthropist who, in 1909, donated over £23,000 to the Scottish National Antarctic expedition. Following his death, she was purchased in 1913 by Sir George Bullough, a keen yachtsman, Fellow of the Zoological Society and owner of the small island of Rhum in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides. He renamed her Rhouma.

As World War I broke out, Rhouma made a dramatic departure from her leisure cruising life and was hired for use as an auxiliary patrol yacht from October 1914 until April 1919. Between the wars, she was lengthened and had an upper deck of cabins added, and her engines were converted to run on oil fuel.

By 1939, she was in the hands of her seventh owner, Sir Frederick Preston, who renamed her Hiniesta. He had little time to enjoy her, however, as the outbreak of World War II saw her embark on a second period of military service, first as an anti-submarine yacht and later as a calibration yacht.

The war finally over, Hiniesta was given the honour of carrying King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Elizabeth up the River Foyle in Northern Ireland on a victory cruise in July 1945. Before the Royal party set sail, the King inspected American naval officers and the men in charge of the surrendered German submarines anchored nearby.

Hiniesta returned to former owner Sir Frederick Preston after the war. Another member of the Royal Yacht Squadron he was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (K.B.E.) and held the office of High Sheriff of Wiltshire.

After Sir Frederick’s death, Hiniesta had four more owners before coming up for auction in 1968 with Christie’s. At the time, a Christie’s spokesman commented: ”She is probably the oldest steam yacht of her size in commission and classed +100A1 at Lloyd’s [Register]. As such she is as rare as a Rembrandt.”

Lloyd’s Register was founded in London in 1760 to examine merchant ships and ‘classify’ them according to their condition, hence the name ‘classification society’.

The organisation owes its name to a 17th century coffee house owned by Edward Lloyd, which was a favourite haunt of merchants, marine underwriters and others connected with shipping. The customers of the coffee house formed the Register Society, the first authentic ship classification society, which would subsequently become Lloyd’s Register. The Society’s earliest surviving Register of Ships was published in 1764 to give both underwriters and merchants an idea of the condition of the vessels they insured and chartered. Since that time, 234 editions of the Register have been published.

Lloyd’s Register of Yachts was first published in 1878 and Triton first appeared in the 1903 edition. With the exception of her service during both World Wars she was classed continuously by Lloyd’s Register until 1975, and was re-classed in 2006.

Today, rules for ship construction and maintenance laid down by Lloyd’s Register are constantly revised and updated in line with changes and developments in ship building, technology and current research. A ship must conform to the standards required by Lloyd’s Register’s published Rules and undergo periodical surveys if it is to be classed and its class maintained.

Lloyd's Register works around the world to assess and certify ships, systems and facilities to improve quality and increase safety. We work with ship yards, owners and operators to provide innovative, value-added solutions that help improve performance in ship design, construction and operation.

Because life matters, safety is not negotiable. Standards have to be applied consistently, and we have the confidence and experience to do this. Throughout our history we have responded to change and led the developments that have made lives safer and helped preserve the environment.

We do what we do because life matters.

This commemorative publication has been designed using the approximate dimensions of the 1903 Yacht Register. It has been produced by Lloyd's Register Marine Communications.

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