Elettra was the name of Guglielmo Marconi's steam yacht – a seaborne laboratory – from which he conducted his many experiments with wireless telegraphy, wireless telephony and other communication and direction-finding techniques during the inter-war period. History Built during the early part of the 20th century, she sailed both as a private yacht and also as a naval patrol boat before passing into the hands of Guglielmo Marconi in 1919. Yacht The vessel was built in the shipyards of Ramage and Ferguson Ltd of Leith, near Edinburgh, having been designed by the engineering firm of Cox and King of London. She was launched on behalf of Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria under the name of Rovenska on 27 March 1904. However, the vessel herself was invoiced to his wife, the Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria. The name was derived from Rovenska on the Adriatic island of Lošinj off the coast of what is now Croatia, a favourite spot of the archduke and the site of his luxurious villa. She sailed under the flag of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1909 but was then sold to Sir Max Waechter for £26,000, at which point she sailed under the British flag while still retaining her original name. During this ownership it is likely that she undertook two main voyages: one to the Adriatic and the Black Sea and another to the North Sea. In 1914 she was sold to the industrialist, Gustav HF Pratt. Service during the Great War Patrol vessel At the outbreak of war, the vessel was requisitioned by the British government and converted into a patrol and escort ship for the Royal Navy as part of the Channel Fleet, plying between England and the French ports of Brest and Saint Malo. At the end of the war, she was decommissioned and auctioned at Southampton, coming into the hands of Guglielmo Marconi in 1919 for £21,000. Service with Marconi Conversion to luxurious seaborne laboratory Now owned by Marconi, the vessel sailed from London in July 1919. Off the coast of Portugal, Marconi startled the operators at a coast station with transmissions of music from gramophone records. The yacht arrived at Naples in mid-August, then transferring to La Spezia, where she was converted for service as a laboratory. Marconi's original intention was to rename his yacht Scintilla ('Spark') but it was felt this would prove too difficult to pronounce in English. The