Robert Morley Stokes

Steam Yacht VARUNA Robert Morley Stokes

In 1896 an American millionaire, Eugene Higgins, commissioned the world famous naval architect George Lennox Watson to design a luxurious steam yacht for fast transatlantic cruising and elegant display at the most fashionable resorts on both sides of the Atlantic. For twelve years the owner and numerous guests cruised year-round to fashionable resorts on both sides of the Atlantic, around the Mediterranean and down through the Caribbean islands until, in 1909, Varuna was wrecked at Achada da Cruz on the northern tip of Madeira. This book reveals some of the stories behind the owner, the design and construction of Varuna at Pointhouse shipyard in Glasgow, Scotland, her crew and the voyages she made over those twelve years.