USS Potomac (AG-25)
USS Potomac at Oakland, California
| |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | USCGC Electra |
Builder | Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin |
Laid down | 5 March 1934 |
Launched | 30 June 1934 |
Commissioned | 25 October 1934 |
Identification |
|
Fate | Transferred to the Navy, 8 November 1935 |
United States | |
Name | USS Potomac |
Namesake | Potomac River |
Acquired | 8 November 1935 |
Commissioned | 1936 |
Decommissioned | 15 November 1945 |
Renamed | Potomac, 30 January 1936 |
Reclassified | AG-25, 11 November 1935 |
Stricken | 25 February 1946 |
Fate | Returned to the Coast Guard, 23 November 1945 |
Status | Museum ship |
General characteristics | |
Type | Thetis-class patrol boat[1] |
Displacement |
|
Length | 165 ft (50 m) |
Beam | 23 ft 9 in (7.24 m) |
Draft | 8 ft 1 in (2.46 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
Complement | 45 |
Armament | 1 × 3"/23 caliber gun |
USS Potomac | |
Oakland Designated Landmark No. 95 | |
Location | Jack London Square, Oakland, California |
Coordinates | 37°47′43″N 122°16′48.4″W / 37.79528°N 122.280111°W |
Built | 1934 |
NRHP reference No. | 87000068[2] |
ODL No. | 95 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | 20 February 1987 |
Designated NHL | 14 December 1990[3] |
Designated ODL | 1985 |
USS Potomac (AG-25), formerly USCGC Electra,[4] was Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidential yacht from 1936 until his death in 1945. On August 3, 1941, she played a decoy role while Roosevelt held a secret conference to develop the Atlantic Charter.
USS Potomac and USS Sequoia are the last two existing U.S. presidential yachts, after USS Williamsburg was scrapped in January 2016.[3] Potomac is now preserved in Oakland, California, as a National Historic Landmark and the only presidential yacht open to the public.[5]
Service history
1934–1945
Potomac was built in 1934 by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, as the United States Coast Guard Cutter Electra. Commissioned on October 25, 1934, Electra was a submarine chaser[6] that served in anti-bootlegging operations.[7] She was chosen to be the new presidential yacht after the Secret Service deemed USS Sequoia a fire hazard.[8] The thought of having a wooden boat that could easily catch fire was not appealing to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who as a child witnessed his aunt burn to death in an oil lamp accident.[5] He also wanted a vessel in which he could move independently and take fishing trips.[5] Electra was officially renamed USS Potomac on January 30, 1936, converted to serve as a presidential yacht and commissioned into the United States Navy on March 2, 1936.[5]
There were approximately $60,000 in upgrades made while converting the ship into a presidential yacht, to make the vessel wheelchair-accessible and more accommodating.
In the following years, USS Potomac was heavily used by President Roosevelt for fishing trips and informal political meetings. Potomac served as a place where relationships were built and deals were made.
It is rumored that the
On August 3, 1941, President Roosevelt left
In the meantime and for security purposes, the
After President Roosevelt's death, Potomac was decommissioned by the Navy, and returned to the US Coast Guard in November 1945.
1945–1980
USS Potomac was
After being decommissioned, Potomac remained docked in Cambridge, Maryland and served with the Maryland Tidewater Fisheries Commission as one of forty fishery enforcement boats for the clam, crab, fish and oyster fishermen of the area until 1960.[7] To accommodate President Roosevelt's need for wheelchair accessibility, a concealed elevator had been installed inside what had been one of Potomac's smokestacks to carry the president from the main deck to the boat deck. This smokestack-elevator shaft was removed and now sits in Cambridge at Long Wharf park as a monument to the former president and his 1935 visit to Cambridge on the previous presidential yacht, USS Sequoia.[14]
Potomac was sold to Warren G. Toone in April 1960 and used as a private ferry boat between Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. In 1962, there was a failed attempt to attend the World's Fair in Seattle due to engine trouble in Long Beach.[9] She was registered in 1963 by Hydro-Capital in Newport Beach, California as a museum ship with call sign WA9710.[7] Records show Potomac's home port was Los Angeles from 1963 to 1967.[7]
In January 1964 she was purchased by Elvis Presley for US$55,000 as a gift to the March of Dimes, so they could auction it, but they kindly declined and therefore it was then offered to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, in Memphis, to sell as a fund raiser. The hospital was able to sell the yacht that same year for US$65,000.[7] Potomac was then registered in 1967 to Marie Augustina Pagliasso of Sanger, California with the call sign WA9710.[7] In January 1970, the vessel was out of documentation. It was rumored that there were plans to turn the yacht into a floating disco.[8]
1980–present
In 1980, Potomac was involved in a large-scale drug-running operation in Mexico, which led to a drug bust at
The vessel is said to have sunk due to a hull that had not been properly maintained and experienced thinning.[9] It had been taking in water for some time.[9]
After being refloated by the U.S. Navy just two weeks later, Potomac was sold to the first and only bidder, the nearby Port of Oakland, for $15,000.[7]
The Association for the Preservation of the Presidential Yacht Potomac
The non-profit Association for the Preservation of the Presidential Yacht Potomac, also known as the Potomac Association, was formed in 1983 to restore and operate the yacht.[15] With a $2.5 million government grant, James Roosevelt, FDR's eldest son, and the Association began restoring Potomac. In April 1993, she sailed her first cruise as a restored vessel.[9] The yacht became a culturally significant attraction in Oakland when it was opened to the public at Jack London Square in the summer of 1995.[16]
A team of volunteers, crew and donors work to uphold the legacy of the historic presidential yacht.[5] She continues to be berthed at Jack London Square and preserved by the Potomac Association, chaired by Michael Roosevelt, a grandson of FDR.[8] She is open to dockside tours and regular cruises on San Francisco Bay.
In popular culture
Potomac was used in June 2011 to film shipboard scenes of the Paul Thomas Anderson film The Master. Actors Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and others shot scenes aboard the yacht while docked and under way.[17]
Awards
See also
- USS Sequoia (presidential yacht)
- List of official vehicles of the president of the United States, which includes the other presidential yachts
References
- Notes
- ^ Dropkin, Les (January 2002). "The Thetis Class Coast Guard Patrol Boats" (PDF). Potomac Association.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 15, 2006.
- ^ a b "NHL Summary document". National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
- ^
Delgado, James P. (1 June 1990) [1987]. "Maritime Heritage of the United States NHL Theme Study—Large Vessels / Potomac (Presidential Yacht)" (pdf). National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
"Accompanying Photos" (pdf). National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-09-08. - ^ a b c d e f g h Jaffee, W. (1998). The Presidential Yacht Potomac. Palo Alto: The Glencannon Press.[page needed]
- ^ Scheina, R. (1982). U.S. Coast Guard cutters & craft of World War II. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Williams, G. (2013). World War II U.S. Navy vessels in private hands: The boats and ships sold and registered for commercial and recreational purposes under the American flag. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company.
- ^ a b c d e f Belcher, N. (July 1997). "FDR's presidential yacht: The USS Potomac". Historic Traveler. 3 (6): 16–19.
- ^ a b c d e f g Scott, M. (May 2015). "USS Potomac The 'Floating White House' A look at the restoration of FDR's presidential yacht". Smart Business Northern California. 8 (6): 5–6 & 10–11.
- ^ JSTOR 27550088.
- ProQuest 367066255.
- ^ S2CID 155415007.
- ^ International Business Machines Corporation Collection (1941). Series: Sound Recordings of Franklin D. Roosevelt Speeches, 1935 - 1945 Collection: International Business Machines Corporation Collection, 1935 - 1945: President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Address from the USS Potomac. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/653182
- ^ "FDR Smokestack Memorial".
- ^ "Association for the Preservation of the Presidential Yacht Potomac Reviews and Ratings | Oakland, CA | Donate, Volunteer, Review | GreatNonprofits".
- ^ Schwarzer, M. (2014). A Tale of Two Waterfronts: Oakland's Jack London Square Competes with San Francisco. California History, 91(4), 6-30.
- ^ Lussier, Germain (14 June 2011). "Literal Set Photos From Paul Thomas Anderson's Latest". Slashfilm. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
- Bibliography
- History - USS Potomac http://www.usspotomac.org/history The Potomac Association
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- Media related to USS Potomac (AG-25) at Wikimedia Commons
- "USS Potomac (AG-25)". Historic Naval Ships Association. Archived from the original on 2007-10-14.
- Official site