Military-Styled Yacht Cujo, Made Famous by Princess Diana, Sinks in the Mediterranean

The wreckage site remains under observation while an investigation into the causes of the accident is underway. Cujo went down with 7,000 liters (1,850 gallons) of diesel in its tanks, which poses an environmental danger.

More than the Princess' yacht

Cujo was made famous by the fact that Princess Diana spent her last summer, which was also arguably her happiest and most publicized, there. But Cujo was a legend in its own right even before that, as it had been designed as a thoroughbred speed boat that delivered excellent performance and unparalleled luxury on the water. A fun military interceptor, if you will.

Before we look at that, we should note that it wasn't the only yacht on which the late Princess cruised that summer. She and Fayed also vacationed on the larger Codecasa yacht Jonikal (later Sokar), which was owned by Fayed's father and is still sailing today under the moniker Bash.

Cujo was delivered in 1972 by Italian shipyard Baglietto on a very strict brief that asked for high speed and ultra comfort, preferably with a styling that brought to mind military vessels. The owner was John Von Neumann, a famous socialite and businessman who has gone down in history as the one to bring Porsche and Volkswagen to the U.S. by opening the first dealership here.

JvNS, as it was originally named, could soar on water at speeds in excess of 40 knots (46 mph/74 kph), thanks to twin 54-liter V-18 turbo diesel engines delivering a combined 2,700 hp. It looked like a military vessel but was an exclusive leisure craft with a unique layout that included two different areas for lounging at the bow. Von Neumann loved it and would use it extensively for the next few years.

In a typical turn of events, he ended up selling it to get a faster and fancier boat, also from Baglietto. The new owner was arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, but he wouldn't keep it for long, selling it to his nephew, Dodi Fayed. By the time Fayed got it, the boat was no longer in excellent condition, so he brought it to CARM in Lavagna for a full refit. Cujo was born.

For the next few years, Cujo became a fixture in St. Tropez, with celebrities like Clint Eastwood, Bruce Willis, Brooke Shields, Robert Downey Jr., and Winona Ryder coming along for rides with Dodi. In 1997, the partying and the celebrity visits stopped as Princess Diana stepped onboard as Dodi's lover.

Cujo was decommissioned in 1999 after a couple of years of being relegated to a water taxi for the Fayed family. It fell into complete disrepair while in storage before it was recovered by Moody Al-Fayed, Dodi's cousin, and restored at the cost of over $1 million, including uprating the engines to deliver 1,650 hp each.

Moody sold it at auction in 2020 to British car collector and restorer Simon Kidston. The video below is a short film centered around a vintage Maserati, Kidston's own '70s Lamborghini Miura, and the Cujo, styled as a faux-James Bond episode. Without exaggeration, it is the perfect tribute to a vessel with such a storied history, now lost for good.

While Kidston is largely credited for bringing Cujo back into the spotlight for a new generation of speed enthusiasts, he is not the current owner. He sold it to an Italian socialite in 2021, but further details on that are not available as of the time of press.