TÌM VỀ HƯƠNG GIANG – MAID MARION, CON SIÊU DU THUYỀN CỦA CỰU HOÀNG BẢO ĐẠI

TRACING THE HƯƠNG GIANG – MAID MARION: THE SUPER-YACHT OF FORMER EMPEROR BẢO ĐẠI

While the “White Prince” (Bạch Công Tử) once sponsored three boats for Phùng Há’s troupe to perform across the Western provinces, and Emperor Khải Định commissioned a vessel for Empress Dowager Từ Dũ that blended cruisette style with traditional Vietnamese bat-wing sails, Emperor Bảo Đại owned a true super-yacht—crafted by the world-renowned shipbuilder Camper & Nicholsons.

The Origins of a Legend

Before it was christened the Hương Giang, the vessel was named Maid Marion. Built in 1938 at the C&N shipyard in Gosport—located across the English Channel from Portsmouth—the ship measured 25 meters (82 feet) in length.

Maid Marion was originally built for Harold Bowden, the head of Raleigh Bicycles, and reflected his personal character: luxurious, durable, and sophisticated. However, shortly after its completion, the yacht was requisitioned for service during World War II. In 1947, Lieutenant Colonel Augustus Newman of the Royal Navy purchased the boat, renamed it Jagusy, and docked it at Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

From Cannes to the Saigon River

In the early 1950s, Emperor Bảo Đại returned to Vietnam as Head of State. Maintaining his penchant for luxury goods, he used his connections to search for a super-yacht to bring to Vietnam. When the Jagusy docked in Cannes, it caught the eye of Vietnam’s final emperor.

Purchased entirely with state funds (naturally—he was the King, after all), the Jagusy was given the purely Vietnamese name Hương Giang. It crossed the Mediterranean, passed through the Suez Canal, and eventually arrived at the Bach Dang Wharf in Saigon. To this day, no photos have surfaced of the Hương Giang on the Saigon River or in Nha Trang serving the Emperor during his vacations.

A Change of Hands and Name

In 1955, after Ngô Đình Diệm ousted Bảo Đại, the Hương Giang was quickly confiscated and sold to an American businessman named A.W. “Art” Cullis. The vessel continued its journey to Florida and took on a quintessentially American name: Running Eagle.

There, until the early 1980s, the boat that once belonged to Vietnamese royalty changed hands several times. In its final chapter, it was named Chimon, with a grand vision for an overhaul costing over $6 million. The plan was to sell it as a timeshare vacation rental with a charter price exceeding $250,000 per week. Even forty years later, that charter price remains remarkably high. With its teak hull and a storied history, many would have surely paid for the chance to feel how the “King of Annam” once spent his holidays.

A Melancholy End

Ultimately, the project failed, left unfinished amidst a sea of lawsuits between the developers and contractors. The yacht’s fixtures and interior furnishings were gradually sold off to cover repair costs.

And so, the Hương Giang lay there—abandoned and forgotten. Eventually, the people of Vietnam forgot that, regardless of how history judges him, the last king of Vietnam once owned a world-renowned super-yacht.