During the state funeral on the River Thames, 30th January 1965, Havengore proudly carried Sir Winston Spencer Churchill, KG, OM, CH, the immediate family, the Earl Marshal and the bearer party of Grenadier Guards.
"And so Havengore sailed into history ... not even the Golden Hind had borne so great a man."
Presented by the International Churchill Society (UK)
The plaque is on a lower deck, above where the coffin would have been placed. Havengore carried the coffin from Tower Pier to Festival Pier.
The quotation on the plaque is from Richard Dimbleby, the BBC broadcaster who covered the event - a state funeral. The live broadcast of the ceremony is estimated to have reached one in ten of the then world population.
'Earl Marshal' is a a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title. One of his (the title leaves little scope for gender neutrality) responsibilities nowadays is the organisation of major ceremonial state occasions, so he was not just along for the ride, it was his show. For the period 1917 - 75 the title was held by Bernard Marmaduke Fitzalan-Howard 16th Duke of Norfolk.
Site: Havengore (2 memorials)
E1, Hermitage Moorings, Havengore
Back in 2022 Matt Brown of kindly sent us 2 plaques he garnered while Open House visiting the MY Havengore.
The yacht was commissioned in 1954 by the Port of London Authority (PLA) and launched in 1956 as the PLA's hydrographic survey vessel (keeping an eye on the water bed).
In 1995 the yacht was withdrawn from service, sold and re-registered as a passenger vessel for up to 40 passengers, which have since proved to be often from the upper crust. As well as the events commemorated by these plaques, Havengore has participated in the Queen's Silver Jubilee and Diamond Jubilee flotillas.
The Havengore is normally moored to the south-east of Hermitage Moorings near St Katharine Docks.
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