007 Press Conference to be Held Aboard 'HMS President'
Variety.com reports that tomorrow’s press conference — in which the identity of who will play James Bond in Casino Royale will be revealed by Eon Productions and Sony Pictures Entertainment — will be held at 12 noon aboard the historic HMS President, a World War I spy vessel moored on the River Thames near Blackfriars Bridge in the City of London.
Crest of the HMS President
According to the official website, the HMS President is a static moored ship and a favorite tourist attraction along London’s Victoria Embankment. Dinners are served aboard the ship which boasts spectacular views of the river as well as some of London’s most famous landmarks such as the London Eye, The South Bank Centre, The National Theatre, St Paul’s Cathedral, and The Tate Modern.
The ship contains a magnificent spacious Ball Room that it offers 2500 square feet without columns. This versatile space is most likely the location of tomorrow’s press conference.
During it’s service in the first World War, the HMS President was part of Britain’s fleet of “Q-boats.” The Q-boats were Britain’s answer to German U-boat attacks. These fighting vessels were actually ordinary ships built as decoys. The ships had guns under dummy lifeboats or hidden under fake funnels and awnings. Some of the ships used paint to hide their cache of weaponry. The idea was to lure the U-boat into attacking these decoy ships which would then unleash their hidden weaponry.
The HMS President, the last surviving Q-boat, was very much a maritime Aston Martin DB5.
Certainly a very fitting place to unveil the new 007.