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Prince William
Tall ships youth trust

Prince William is one of two tall ships used by the Tall Ships Youth Trust (formerly the Sail Training Association). This British charity aims to promote self-confidence, responsibility, teamwork and similar qualities in young people through sailing Prince William and Stavros S Niarchos. The former Sail Training Association was previously equipped with two schooners, Malcolm Miller and Sir Winston Churchill, but these were seen as too old for further use (in terms of accommodation and so on, since the rigs are traditional) and were replaced. As of November 2007 the Prince William was laid up as the trust awaits the sale of one of the two brigs.

The TSYT's ships are two-masted brigs, with the rig designed by Michael Willoughby (his description of the design). The hulls were built in Germany as cruise ships for the West Indies, designed to carry masts and sails and use them from time to time, but not to be serious sailing vessels. This project was cancelled and the part-finished hulls were bought in 1997 by the TSYT. They were then modified by Appledore Shipbuilders to take the strains of a full sailing rig and to improve their sailing properties, including the addition of a new deeper keel holding fifty tons of ballast.

Prince William's rig is designed according to traditional rules, occasionally modified slightly with trainees in mind. The foremast is slightly shorter than the main mast, but they are otherwise identical. Each consists of a steel lower mast and topmast and timber topgallant and royal mast. Spars are steel on the lower and topmasts (course, lower topsail and upper topsail yards) and timber above this (topgallant and royal yards). Access to the tops is by a vertical "jacob's ladder" down to the ratlines, rather than inverted futtock shrouds. There is a gold sovereign placed under the foremast where it meets the keel, a tradition supposed to give the ship luck.

The accommodation for voyage crew (ie ordinary paying crew members) is in six eight-berth cabins, two for each watch. Volunteers are in 2-3 berth cabins and the permanent crew have individual cabins. The accommodation is air-conditioned, because the ship spends a significant amount of time in tropical waters each year.

wikipedia

Originally built as the USNS Tanner for the US Navy as a fast Oceanographic Research Vessel by Bethlehem Steel Corporation at its Sparrows Point Yard in Maryland in 1990. The vessel was the second oceanographic research ship to bear the name of Zero Luther “Tanner” a noted Oceanographer and inventor of a patented sounding machine. The vessel experienced an engine casualty in 1993 and was laid up by the Navy and ownership transferred to the Maritime Administration. She lay idle in the James River Reserve Fleet until 1996 when she began a conversion process, which removed her underwater sonar domes and equipment. The two original engines were removed and a new “one of a kind” power plant was installed, making her into a sophisticated high tech teaching platform for her mission of training men and women for careers as licensed officers in the Merchant Marine. The vessel was modified to increase the accommodations from 108 to 302 persons. New lifesaving equipment and upgrades to existing equipment were accomplished as well as enhancements to the habitability requirements of the vessel. She was delivered to Maine Maritime Academy on 6 June 1997. Today Maine Maritime students in majors leading to a USCG Third Assistant Engineer (Marine Engineering Operations, Marine Engineering Technology, and Marine Systems Engineering majors) or USCG Third Mate (Marine Transportation Operations major) licenses participate in training cruises aboard the TS State of Maine. These cruises last about 60 days on average, and during that time midshipmen will rotate through both class and laboratory training at sea, ship's operations including deck and engine watches, as well as emergency drills. Port visits offer a time to relax, and visit other maritime nations, but also include watch responsibilities and routine ship's maintenance.