‘Idalia’, a lost motor yacht, a question?
‘Idalia’, what we know of her history
Type: Motor Yacht
Manufacturer: Harland & Wolff, Belfast
Date of launch: 29 April 1934
Date of completion: 22 May 1934
Length: c. 33m
Weight: c. 150 tonnes
Hull: stainless steel
Engines: Twin diesel engines driving twin stainless steel drive shafts and propellors.
IOM: 163209
Call sign: MBVQ
Date owner Name Port
1934 Alan Craig ‘Idalia’ Belfast, Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club
1935 Ida Craig ‘Idalia’ Belfast, Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club
1936 Sir H. R. Dennis ‘Idalia’ Royal London Yacht Club, Cowes
1947 Frederick Hodges ‘Idalia’ Belfast
1950 George B. Butler ‘Idalia’ Belfast
1951 Rev. Fred Cubbon Greeba Douglas, Isle of Man
1956 Herman Anton Andreae ‘Idalia’ Belfast?
1959 4th Viscount Camrose ‘Idalia’ Southampton
1970s Hi-Tech Corporation ‘Alicia Dawn’ Southampton?
1980s Owner unknown Endeavour Location unknown
1994 Owner unknown Balmoral Port Harcourt, Nigeria
‘Idalia’ was built for Alan Craig a rich whiskey distiller in Belfast.
He died when inspecting and preparing the completed craft and was buried on the day he had planned his first trip, 22 May 1934.
His wife sold the yacht soon afterwards, and any further record is very brief with little detail.
Her engines were replaced in 1944 and also we believe again in the last 30 years.
‘Idalia’ was based in Southampton from 1959.
In the 1970s she belonged to a company called Hi Tech Corp with her name changed to ‘Alicia Dawn’.
Her superstructure was rebuilt in the 1980s and may appear quite different to the original build.
The photographs here show her on the slipway and during sea trials.
The last report of her was in May 2011 when she was at Port Harcourt.