El Mahrousa

El Mahrousa (Arabic: المحروسة, literally "The Protected"), officially renamed for a period of time as El Horreya (Arabic: الحرية, "Freedom"), is a super yacht that serves as Egypt's presidential yacht, and previously served as the country's royal yacht. She was built by the British ship building firm Samuda Brothers in 1863 to the order of Egyptian Khedive Ismail Pasha and was handed over to its crew two years later. El Mahrousa underwent a number of important alterations during its years of service, including the replacement of her paddle wheel engines by turbine driven propellers in 1905; the installation of a wireless telegraph in 1912 and a diesel-fueled system in 1919; as well as multiple-feet lengthenings throughout that period. She also witnessed much of Egypt's modern history since she was first commissioned in the 19th century up till now. The yacht carried three Egyptian rulers to their exile abroad, namely Khedive Ismail, Khedive Abbas II and King Farouk I, along with the latter's recently born son, Fuad II, the last ruling members of the Muhammad Ali dynasty. This marked the end of the monarchy in Egypt following the 1952 revolution and the founding of the Republic of Egypt, after which the yacht joined the Egyptian Navy and was renamed El Horreya (English: Liberty). The yacht continued to play a role in the country's post-revolutionary history and participated in the 1976 United States Bicentennial celebrations. She took Egypt's president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, to numerous locations and she notably sailed with President Anwar Sadat to Jaffa, Israel, during the 1979 peace talks between Egypt and Israel. She was renamed back to El Mahrousa in 2000 and became the first ship to cross the New Suez Canal extension in 2015.