Meteor III (yacht)

Meteor was the third yacht of that name to be owned by Kaiser Wilhelm II. It was a schooner designed by A. Carey Smith and H. G. Barbey and built at the Townsend & Downey shipyard on Shooters Island. It was launched at a grand ceremony on 25 February 1902 in which it was christened by Alice Roosevelt before a crowd which included her father, President Theodore Roosevelt, and Prince Henry of Prussia.^[1]^[2]

The launch was filmed by James H. White for the Edison company as an early newsreel.

The yacht was used for racing but was not successful and was sold to Dr Harries in 1909 who changed its name to Nordstern. It then passed through the hands of a series of owners including the press baron Maurice Bunau-Varilla. In 1940, it was requisitioned by the US Navy and was then scrapped after the Second World War. Its final name was Aldebaran.^[3]

References

^ "The Emperor's Yacht – Meteor III", Scientific American, 86: 141, March 1, 1902, "Meteor III.," which was designed by Cary Smith & Barbey, of New York, is an improved and enlarged "Yampa"—the latter, a very successful schooner that was designed by Mr. Smith and spent a great deal of her time in European waters. The "Yampa" eventually passed into the hands of the German Emperor, and under the name of "Iduna" has figured largely in the foreign regattas. The Emperor was so well pleased with the "Iduna" that last fall he placed an order with these architects for the construction of a larger and faster yacht, which should embody the best features of the "Yampa"
^ Stephens, W.P. (1902), "The Yachting Outlook", Outing, Outing Publishing Company, p. 121, The noble schooner yacht, Meteor III, just launched at Shooters' Island, in Newark Bay, is the legitimate outcome of a practical study of the American schooner, begun by Mr. Smith in Prospero as long ago as 1877. She is largely a bigger and finer edition of the ocean cruiser Yampa, designed by him in 1887, and now owned by the Emperor under the name of Iduna.
^ Lillian Ross (14 June 1946), "The Kaiser's Yacht", The New Yorker

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[TEY-1] "The Emperor's Yacht – Meteor III", Scientific American, 86: 141, March 1, 1902, "Meteor III.," which was designed by Cary Smith & Barbey, of New York, is an improved and enlarged "Yampa"—the latter, a very successful schooner that was designed by Mr. Smith and spent a great deal of her time in European waters. The "Yampa" eventually passed into the hands of the German Emperor, and under the name of "Iduna" has figured largely in the foreign regattas. The Emperor was so well pleased with the "Iduna" that last fall he placed an order with these architects for the construction of a larger and faster yacht, which should embody the best features of the "Yampa"

[TYO-2] Stephens, W.P. (1902), "The Yachting Outlook", Outing, Outing Publishing Company, p. 121, The noble schooner yacht, Meteor III, just launched at Shooters' Island, in Newark Bay, is the legitimate outcome of a practical study of the American schooner, begun by Mr. Smith in Prospero as long ago as 1877. She is largely a bigger and finer edition of the ocean cruiser Yampa, designed by him in 1887, and now owned by the Emperor under the name of Iduna.

[TKY-3] Lillian Ross (14 June 1946), "The Kaiser's Yacht", The New Yorker

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