Rover (later renamed Southern Cross, Orizaba) was a steam yacht built in 1930 by Alexander Stephen and Sons in Linthouse, Glasgow, Scotland for Lord Inchcape, then chairman of the P&O. Built as yard number 527, she was 265feet long with a beam of 40feet and a tonnage of 2,115, and was considered "the most luxurious ever built on the Clyde".[1]
The yacht's figurehead was a likeness of Lord Inchcape's daughter, Elsie Mackay, who disappeared while trying to fly the Atlantic in 1928.[2] With accommodation for up to 14 guests, the yacht was painted green and white at launch with a predominantly silver-coloured dining room.[3]
Rovers staterooms featured en-suite marbled bathrooms. Dancing and games were staged on the open decks. Long-distance fuel tanks permitted long round-the-world voyages. In Cowes Week in August 1930, she was visited by the then King George V and Queen Mary.[4]
After Lord Inchcape's death aboard Rover in Monte Carlo's Port Hercules harbour on 23 May 1932,[5] rumours circulated that the Aga Khan would buy the yacht,[6] while a rumoured deal with King Carol II of Romania also fell through.[7] However, a year later she was bought, unseen, by US businessman Howard Hughes, and renamed Southern Cross.[1] [8] She was subsequently sold to Swedish entrepreneur Axel Wenner-Gren, under whose ownership she helped rescue survivors from the, the first ship to be sunk by Nazi Germany in World War II.[9]
The vessel subsequently served in the Mexican Navy as Orizaba until she was scrapped around 1960.[7]
