Second Tale of 2 Yachts in ME

This is quite a lengthy post, per my usual ones which focus on historical places and things that attract me to learn more. And, since it's always nice to share knowledge, now you know too.

This post is a continuation of an earlier one about two yachts we saw in Belfast, ME, shipyards during a July visit. That earlier post focused on one of the two yachts in the photo on the right ➨.

This photo was displayed in the previous post along with a question about which one was in better shape. 

And, if you read the previous post (or not) the answer is the top yacht, Cangarda, one of three remaining steam yachts worldwide. 

Both of these vessels are historical, but for different reasons. The bottom one has the most history as it pertains to the U.S. as you will read and see in this post. And, I am not a boat person, when we found out it was in a location we were staying, I had to learn more.

The photos above are of the second yacht as it is today. It's clearly visible, that it's in very rough condition, which doesn't bode well for its former prominence. But then, Cangarda was in the same predicament before complete a restoration which took many years and many $$$. And, this one is in the same situation—time and money can work wonders.

If you haven't figured out the significance of this yacht; its nameplate gives it away, the USS Sequoia. In much better days, it was the floating White House from 1931 to 1977. Up to 10 U.S. Presidents have been on board, Herbert Hoover to Bill Clinton, (even after the yacht was sold by one of them). No, I didn't know there was a Presidential yacht, but then the yacht preceded the time before a presidential plane. 

Here's a few ways it was used by presidents: Franklin D. Roosevelt had a wheelchair lift installed. Harry Truman made the decision to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima while onboard. Dwight Eisenhower allowed Queen Elizabeth II to use it during a visit. In 1963, John F. Kennedy celebrated what became his last birthday onboard. Lyndon Johnson watched films considered risqué if in the White House. The most time onboard was spent by Richard Nixon, who played the piano. Reportedly, it was where he decided to resign the presidency.

Sadly, the Sequoia is in such disrepair that it can no longer float on its own. The above photos show it as seen in July on boat stands at the French & Webb boatyard in Belfast, ME. This specialty boatyard has been contracted to bring back the seaworthiness and elegance of this famous vessel. From all that I have read, this will be a long process.

The USS Sequoia, is an impressive sight even in its current state. This 182,000 lb, 104-foot long wooden yacht was one of the largest personal yachts of its time.

Formally decommissioned in December 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, it continues to carry its “USS” designation and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

Surprisingly, like many things, it has a connection to our home state of New Jersey where it was built in 1925 for a woman raised in NJ who shared the same September 9 birthdate as my late mother (different birth years).

Online sources: Mathis Ship Yard, Camden, NJ, circa 1920s

Emily Roebling

Designed by famed naval architect John Trumpy, the yacht was built by the John H. Mathis & Company Shipbuilders in Camden, NJ. Trumpy, a fourth generation of boat builders was born in Norway. After naval architect training at home and in Germany, he immigrated to the U.S. in 1908 and joined Mathis as a partner in 1910. 

The yacht was designed and built for Emily Roebling Cadwalader. If that name seems familiar, it's because Ms. Roebling was the granddaughter of John Augustus Roebling, the civil engineer for the Brooklyn Bridge. Raised in Trenton, NJ, she was one of the first women to drive her own car there. She married Richard M. Cadwalader, a prominent Philadelphia banker, who shared her interest in large yachts, which luckily they could well afford too.

The Sequoia II, as it was originally named, preceded the 85-foot Sequoia I, which the couple owned before and which was also designed by Trumpy. These handmade wooden vessels, built for the rich and famous, enabled a very comfortable lifestyle. Sequoia's hull was constructed of yellow-leaf pine, the deckhouse was made of mahogany and teak. 

Online source: Vintage ad for Mathis Company lists Sequoia I and II; notice that Emily Roebling's name was not included, only her husband

Built in 1925 at a cost of about $200,000—equal to $3,223,145 now, it was the second of four successively larger yachts built between 1924 and 1931 for the couple. Years ago, luxury boats were the preferred transport for wealthy easterners who wanted to escape winter weather and escape to warmer states, like Florida. Instead of the term yacht that's now used, these luxury boats were called house boats as shown in the vintage ad above for the Mathis Company.

Online source: Sequoia II (as it was known then) in 1926

Sequoia II and its owners parted ways within three years. It was sold to William Dunning, a Houston-based oil executive, who used it for gambling trips to Cuba and business trips along the Mexican coastline. Dunning went bankrupt in the 1929 stock market crash and sold the yacht.

In 1931, the U.S. Department of Commerce bought Sequoia II from Dunning for about $40,000 justifying the cost as it was used as a decoy for rum-runners during Prohibition. Yes, I wondered about that use myself.  It would patrol the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays as a decoy vessel to attract would-be bootleggers who hoped to sell illegal liquor and would come alongside what they assumed was a wealthy owner's yacht, only to be arrested.

Presidential Herbert Hoover 

Then President Herbert Hoover, who had friends with similar yachts, and friends in high places, had the Secretary of the Navy purchase the yacht. 

In March 1933, the yacht, now known as Sequoia, became the official presidential yacht and was transferred from the Department of Commerce to the Naval Department, gaining its USS status. Hoover used it as the presidential yacht for the last two years of his presidency, including 1931-1933 voyages for business and pleasure cruises. 

Here's a fun twist, according to some sources, Sequoia was decommissioned as an official Navy vessel during WW II—alcoholic beverages were prohibited onboard commissioned naval vessels, so that world leaders, like Winston Churchill, could drink liquor onboard. The problem is that Churchill was never documented as being aboard the yacht. 

Online source: U.S. Navy classification

From 1936 to 1939, the USS Sequoia was used as the yacht of the Secretary of the Navy and from 1939 to 1977, used by the Navy, the President and executive branch officials.

Online sources: U.S. Presidents onboard USS Sequoia, FDR to Nixon

Sequoia was sold by a President

All good things come to an end. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter, decided it wasn't right to spend taxpayers dollars on such a luxury item and ordered Sequoia sold at auction to reduce Federal government spending. Sequoia was costing U.S. taxpayers an estimated $800,000 annually at the time. Later, Carter was said to have regretted his decision as a mistake. 

Online source: Presidential bedroom onboard USS Sequoia (in better days)

A RI contractor, Thomas Malloy, purchased Sequoia from the government at auction in 1977 for the highest bid of  $286,000, then spent $50,000 to turn it into a floating museum. It was anchored in RI at India Point Park. In July 1977, Malloy pulled anchor after only 500 people had visited at $2 each. In a New York Times article, he was quoted as saying that intense summer heat had deterred tourists and he hoped to find cooler air and better business in Newport, R.I. 

Those plans didn't go well. Three months later, Malloy resold the yacht to a partnership for $355,00. It was maintained in Myrtle Beach, SC, then in 1980 again resold for $750,000 to The Ocean Learning Institute of Palm Beach, FL, which used it to entertain potential donors.

Online source: USS Sequoia on Hudson River, in NYC

The non-profit Presidential Yacht Trust acquired Sequoia from the Institute for approximately $1.1 million in 1980 and returned her to Washington, D.C. During 1984, the yacht was taken on an eight-month, 6,000-mile tour of the country. It underwent a $2 million restoration and then participated in the July 1986 centennial for the Statue of Liberty. A year later, Sequoia was designated as a National Historic Landmark.

In the intervening years there were several other owners, including a potential Japanese buyer who wanted to buy and move it yacht to Tokyo.

Years later, it was involved in a lengthy legal battle after it had been hauled to a boatyard in Virginia. According to online accounts, the vessel had been damaged when it was hauled out of the water on a marine railway in 2014. The yacht was neglected and in danger of sinking. 

The dispute was resolved after years of lengthy and complicated legal wrangling. Its current owner is the Equator Capital Group, a portfolio investment firm in Washington, D.C, which bought Sequoia in 2016 for $7.8 million. 

Online sources: USS Sequoia barging and underway

Online source: USS Sequoia on barge in Hudson River, in NYC

In September 2019, Wolfe House & Building Movers barged the yacht for transport from Deltaville, VA, to Cambridge, MD, then to Belfast, ME. You can view an online video of this amazing barging process here. (It's a condensed version of about 3 minutes.)

USS Sequoia arrived in New England in October 2019. A just over 2-minute video showing some of this amazing voyage and arrival in Belfast, ME, can also be viewed online here 

Both videos provide the best overall views of this incredible-looking wooden yacht, especially the top-down images. USS Sequoia was not wrapped until after its arrival in ME.

That's Where It Remains

Since 2019, the 104-year old yacht has remained outdoors at the French and Webb boat yard under wraps. Like with most things, the pandemic delayed the start of restoration. While it seems like no work has been done. It's all been done behind the scenes. 

According to several articles, skilled workers used laser technology to create a three-dimensional model; original design plans couldn't be found. They have also sourced rare wood and materials, including longleaf pine, from the Southeast and white oak from Denmark. No restoration costs have been disclosed.

Strict guidelines must be followed and restoration must be of museum-level archival quality. That's because the yacht is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Sequoia will remain in Belfast for the foreseeable future. Physical restoration is slated to start in the spring of 2023 and expected to take 3-4 years. Plans call for a protective housing to be built that would protect the yacht from the elements. Reportedly, it will have a walkway for the public to view the restoration process. From what we saw, there wasn't a rush on these plans.

After its restoration, the USS Sequoia is expected to return to Washington where it will be used as a venue to support ocean conservation.

We're planning a return to Belfast, ME, within a couple of years to see how the process is going. Of course, any visit will be included in a future post, if the visual work has started by then. 

BIG THANKS to everyone for comments on my recent post with family members. As many noted, it's all good now to share special times after a stretch of not doing so.