This is your definitive guide to the20 largest classic yachtsof all time. Updated regularly, it's the only source you need for the biggest classic yacht is in the world right now. _Plus, don't forget to check out the 200 largest superyachts in the world. _

Built in Japan in 1965, the 60.11 metre motor yacht Paloma was completely rebuilt in Malta between 2003/2004 to ABS class. Almost all of her onboard systems and equipment are brand new from interior to exterior and an all new engine room with the latest engineering equipment, coupled with ultra modern navigation and communication systems have been installed. Now MCA compliant, Paloma accommodates 12 guests in a master suite, two double, two twin and two single cabins.

Builder:Ishikawajima-Harima
Naval Architecture & Exterior Styling: Ishikawajima-Harima
Interior design:G.L. Watson

The 60.9 metre Madiz was built by Scotland’s Ailsa yard in 1902 and is the world’s oldest iron or steel vessel still to be in class with Lloyds Register. Designed by the legendary G.L. Watson, she is an elegant, good looking yacht and retains much of her original deck equipment and unique interior panelling, including Cuban mahogany in the master bedroom and solid oak in the reception areas. Extensively refitted between 2003 and 2007, Madiz accommodates up to 14 guests in a master suite and three double cabins.

Builder:Ailsa
Naval Architecture / Exterior Styling / Interior design: G.L. Watson

Voyager was built by Spain’s Astilleros y Talleres Celaya yard in 1973 and was purchased in 2005 with the purpose of transforming her into the ultimate expedition superyacht for charter guests. Carrying a helicopter with jet fuel storage and refuelling capability plus an array of tenders and toys, she was intended for extended cruising periods from remote tropical waters to extreme Alaskan winters, in comfort and style. The interior has been completely redesigned in a young and colourful style without compromising comfort, accommodating 12 guests.

Builder: Astilleros Tolleres Celaya
Naval Architecture / Exterior Styling / Interior design:Sparkman & Stephens

Shemara was delivered to British businessman Sir Bernard Docker just before the outbreak of World War II. Post-war, Docker gained notoriety for his conspicuous wealth during a lean economic period in the 1950s and early 1960s. The yacht was put on the market in 1965 for an asking price of £600,000, an enormous sum in those days, and she eventually passed into the hands of Harry Hyams, a property developer, for the lesser sum of £290,000. Following an initial refit she was seriously neglected, and for many years was laid up in Lowestoft in the United Kingdom in poor condition. The yacht has since changed hands and Shemara was relaunched in 2014 after an extensive refit at Trafalgar Wharf.

Builder:Thorneycroft
Naval architecture: John I. Thorneycroft

Rossy One (ex-Santa Maria del Mare) was originally built by Germany’s Krupp yard in 1931 as Argosy and has had a chequered history, variously serving the US Navy in WWII and then becoming a ferry. This 66 metre superyacht was rebuilt as a luxury yacht in Italy to RINA class and her Luca Dini interior will sleep 10 guests in five cabins.

Builder: Germania Werft
Naval Architecture & Exterior Styling:Cox & Stevens
Interior design: Luca Dini

La Sultana nudged her way into the list of the largest classic yachts in the world after a 2015 rebuild. Like most classic yachts, she has an interesting history - La Sultana was first a passenger ferry operating in the Black Sea. A decade after her launch she was used as a spy ship for the Soviet navy before she was rescued in 2007 and restored to glory.

Builder: Georgi Dimitrov

Dona Amelia was launched as Haida for American yeast magnate Max Fleishmann in 1929, the exterior of this then state-of-the-art oceangoing yacht featured retro styling that gave her a late-19th-century appearance. Twin Krupp diesels offered superior safety, cleanliness and efficiency over coal-fired vessels. She saw service in World War II as a US Navy patrol ship.

Post-war, she was owned successively by American businessman Larry Green, Irish brewer Löel Guinness, film producer Robert Stigwood, and latterly by a wealthy recluse before being sold into Japanese ownership in 1981. Later she was acquired by Andreas Liveras, who chartered her for many years and then sold her to her current German owner, who returned her name to Haida G. A comprehensive rebuild at Proteksan-Turquoise Yachts in Tuzla, Turkey, has replaced her entire interior and rebuilt her original engines.

Now in the hands of a new European owner, she’s a mothership for J Class Endeavour. She is featured in The Superyachts, Volume 19 as Haida G.

Builder:Germania Werft
Naval architecture:Cox & Stevens
Interior design: Verges
Former names:USS Argus, Haida, Haida G, Rosenkavalier, Sarina

Launched in 1973 as a replacement for Carinthia V (which hit an uncharted rock and sank in Greek waters on her maiden voyage), Carinthia VI also features styling and interior design by Jon Bannenberg, and its exterior lines are widely recognised as being the most beautiful among the world’s motor yachts.

Following the death of her owner, the Austrian supermarket and store mogul Helmut Horten, Carinthia VI passed into the ownership of his widow, Heidi Horton, who placed her on the market following the delivery of Carinthia VII. She was renamed The One by her new owner, an Italian.

The One was severely damaged in a fire at Marmaris Marina in January 2016, and it is currently unclear whether she will be rebuilt.

The One is featured in Volume 19 of The Superyachts and her design is the inspiration for the Lürssen superyacht Limitless.

Builder / naval architecture:Lürssen
Exterior styling / interior design: Jon Bannenberg

The Royal Yacht Dannebrog was launched by Queen Alexandrine, wife of King Christian X of Denmark, in Copenhagen in 1931and displays the distinctive retro styling from the turn of the 19th century that was fashionable among many large motor and sailing yachts built in the early 1930s.

Dannebrog remains in service as the country’s Royal Yacht, manned by nine officers, seven warrant officers and 36 seamen from the Danish Navy, and she is regularly used for official visits to neighbouring countries and the many islands that make up Denmark. The hull’s construction is of riveted steel on transverse frames. The royal apartment in the stern of the vessel can be converted for the use of patients should the yacht be required in her emergency role as a hospital ship.

Builder/designer:Danish Royal Dockyard

This yacht was built in 1930 for Mr Algar of the Packard Car Company, who named her Reveler. However, he died before delivery and the yacht was purchased by E F McCann, son-in-law of the department store magnate F W Woolworth, who changed her name to Chalena. As USS Beaumont, she was used as a patrol gunboat by the US Navy during World War II. With her engines unserviceable, she was laid up in Falmouth, England, for a period in the late 1980s before being bought by J Paul Getty Junior, who had her rebuilt in 1993 at Devonport Management Limited, later Devonport Yachts, in Plymouth, England, to the design of Jon Bannenberg. Getty renamed her Talitha G after his first wife. Following his death, she remains in use by the family and occasionally charters. Now renamed Talitha, Talitha G is featured in The Superyachts, Volume 19.

Builder:Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft (1929) / Devonport Yachts (1993 & 2000)
Naval architecture:Cox & Stevens
Exterior styling: Cox & Stevens / Jon Bannenberg (rebuild)
Interior design: Jon Bannenberg (rebuild)
Former names:Carola, Chalena, Elpetal, Jezebel, Reveler, Talitha G, USS Beaumont

Lady Sarya, a classic from 1972, has unconventional looks for a superyacht. Two funnels are set aft in the superstructure, and a large swimming pool is positioned between them on the upper deck. Her tenders include a splendid Venetian taxi, while the owner’s suite has a door in the hull’s side that provides direct access to the water. Despite the size of the yacht she has only three guest cabins.

Builder/naval architecture:Cantiere Navale Apuania
Interior design:Rinaldo Gastaldi
Fomer names:La Belle Simone, Lady Sarah I, Sarah

Automobile manufacturing mogul Horace Dodge named Delphine after his daughter, and his motor yacht was a familiar sight around Detroit and Chicago in the 1920s. She was equipped with an unusual quadruple steam expansion engine designed by her owner, which gave her an impressive top speed of 15 knots. During World War II she served as the flagship of Admiral King, the Commander-in-Chief of the US Fleet.

Laid up in 1962, she was bought by the Seafarers International Union for use as a headquarters ship but fell into disrepair in the early 1990s. She was later acquired by a Singapore company which planned to convert her into a mini-cruise liner for Asian waters, but this sale fell through. Happily, she was purchased by a Belgian woman, Ineke Bruynooghe, and a thorough restoration and conversion brought both the yacht and her original steam engines back to new condition. Delphine is now for sale. The only surviving steam-powered superyacht, Delphine is featured in The Superyachts, Volume 17.

Builder:Great Lakes Engineering Works
Designer:Henry J Gielow
Former names:Dauntless, USS Dauntless

Al Diriyah is reported to be owned by Saudi Arabian Sheik Ahmed Yamani, the former Saudi oil minister who was instrumental in establishing the 1973 oil embargo. The yacht is named after a historic site in the former capital of Saudi Arabia.

Builder:National Bulk Carriers
Naval architecture:Ellen McClusky

Aircraft manufacturer Thomas Sopwith commissioned this yacht, now known as Norge, as a tender for his pre-war America’s Cup challenge with the J-Class yacht Endeavour. One of her duties was to carry Endeavour’s racing rig across the Atlantic while Endeavour (which was required by the America’s Cup rules to cross the Atlantic on her own bottom) made the passage under sail with a reduced rig. The yacht’s main deck still has the long, straight fore-and-aft passageway designed to accommodate Endeavour’s racing mast.

Post-war, she was bought by the Norwegian people as a gift for King Haakon. The yacht has since served his successors. She is crewed by the Norwegian Navy and frequently attends regattas as the mothership to King Harald’s racing yachts – the original purpose for which she was built.

Builder:Camper & Nicholsons
Naval architecture/interior design:Charles E Nicholson
Former names:Philante

This classically elegant yacht, Nahlin, has an enviable pedigree, having been designed by the revered naval architect G L Watson for the British aristocrat Lady Yule. While owned by Lady Yule she was loaned to Britain’s King Edward VIII for a cruise with his American lover and future wife Wallis Simpson, a trip that surely played a part in Edward’s decision to marry Simpson and set himself on the path to abdication.

She later became the Royal Yacht of King Carol II of Romania, who named her Luceafarul. After the overthrow of the monarchy, the yacht, now renamed Libertatea, served as a floating restaurant and fell into almost terminal disrepair.

Happily, she was found and recovered to England by Nicholas Edmiston and William Collier in 2000. She lay in a Liverpool shipyard for four years but has now been sold to a British owner, and her total restoration, under the management of G L Watson, was completed at the Blohm+Voss yard in Rendsburg, Germany, in July 2010. This included the replacement of almost 70 per cent of her riveted shell plating and the provision of a totally new modern-classic interior designed by Rémi Tessier.

Builder: John Brown & Co (1930) / Blohm+Voss (2009)
Naval architecture: GL Watson & Co
Interior design: Rémi Tessier (rebuild)
Former names:Libertatea, Luceafarul

When stockbroker and yachtsman Edward F Hutton married heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post in the 1920s, he introduced her to yachting aboard his three-masted schooner Hussar. Post and Hutton later built an even larger yacht, Hussar II, which was designed by Cox & Stevens and built by Friedrich Krupp in Kiel, Germany. Launched in 1931, it had panelled saloons and seven lavish cabins.

When the couple divorced Marjorie kept the yacht and renamed her Sea Cloud. She served as a patrol vessel for the US Coast Guard during World War II and in 1955 was sold to the Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo, who renamed her Angelita. After his overthrow, she was acquired by Clifford Barbour, who renamed her Antarna. New German owners rescued her from neglect in 1978, returned her name to Sea Cloud, and rebuilt her in Bremerhaven.

The yacht now charters in the West Indies during winter and in the Mediterranean in summer, operating with 60 crew and offering 34 cabins. She is featured in volume 3 of The Superyachts book.

Builder: Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft
Naval architecture: Cox & Stevens
Former names:Angelita, Antarna, Hussar II, Patria

Christina O is the largest North American-built yacht in existence. Perhaps fortunately, little remains of her original structure as she was built in Canada as HMCS Stormont, an escort frigate for North Atlantic convoys during World War II. She was subsequently purchased by Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, who, in 1954, converted her into the most spectacular yacht of the era, renaming her Christina after his daughter.

Onassis used his yacht to entertain many of the world’s rich and famous, including his mistress, the opera diva Maria Callas, and Sir Winston Churchill. She was comprehensively rebuilt in Croatia in 2001. The yacht retains many of her original features, including the swimming pool with a copy of the Minoan mosaic from the royal palace at Knossos at the bottom. Purchased by a consortium that includes an Irish bank and Greek interests and renamed Christina O, the iconic yacht Christina O is available for charter and was featured in volume 15 of The Superyachts book.

Builder:Canadian Vickers (1943) / HDW (1954)
Designer:Cesar Pinnau (conversion)
Former names:Argo, Christina, HMCS Stormont

Thought to be a gift from Stavros Niarchos to King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, this yacht has now been renamed Issham Al Baher _following the launch of _Al Salamah in 1999. Advanced in years, this one-time royal yacht has been passed one rung down the ladder of Saudi Arabian royal yacht ownership. However, it is possible that Issham al-Baher remains a state-funded vessel as the crossover between state and private funding among the Saudi royal family is unclear.

Builder:Hellenic Shipyards
Naval architecture:Maierform
Exterior styling:Cesar Pinnau
Former names:Al Salamah, Prince Abdulaziz, Atlantis

Named after a black African swan, Savarona was built for the American heiress Emily Roebling Cadwalader, whose family business constructed both the Brooklyn and Golden Gate bridges. In 1937, the yacht was purchased by the Turkish state as the presidential yacht of Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey. Following his death, Savarona was renamed Gunes Dil (Sun Language) and used as a Turkish Navy training ship. Her condition deteriorated.

In 1989, Kahraman Sadikoglu bought a 50-year lease and, with other investors, spent $35 million on her refurbishment. Subsequently, Sadikoglu has acquired 100 per cent of the lease. The original steam turbines were replaced with two Caterpillar diesels, the weight of the former being compensated for by 300 tonnes of marble, mostly used for a Turkish bath spanning the full 16 metre beam. Recently, her shafts, propellers and rudders were replaced in a $3m refit that also refurbished her interior.

Savarona is featured in Volume 6 of The Superyachts and has returned to use as a state yacht.

Builders:Blohm+Voss (1931) / Kahraman Sadikoglu (1992)
Naval architecture:Cox & Stevens (1931)
Interior design:Donald Starkey (1992)

Originally built for the Ottoman governor of Egypt, Khedive Ismail, El Mahroussa was present at the opening ceremony of the Suez Canal in 1869, when she was used to receive visiting dignitaries. She was lengthened by 12.1 metres in 1872, when her paddle wheels were removed, and by a further 5.2 metres in 1905. Her last major rebuild was in 1950.

In 1976, she was the Egyptian representative at the Bicentennial Fleet Review in New York harbour, after which she slipped into disrepair while being used as a museum ship. In 1992 a major effort was put into making her seaworthy enough to travel to Italy for the Christopher Columbus Fleet Review. She now serves as the Presidential Yacht but is seldom seen in public. She is usually berthed in Alexandria, where she is cared for by the Egyptian Navy, which lists her as a training ship. Powered by three Parsons steam turbines, she has achieved a top speed of 16 knots, although today this is perhaps too optimistic.

Builder:Samuda Brothers
Former names:El Horriya