Sequoia in Washington Marina in 2008 |
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| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Sequoia |
| Namesake: | Sequoyah |
| Builder: | Mathis Yacht Building Co., Camden, New Jersey |
| Cost: | $200,000 |
| Laid down: | 1925 |
| Launched: | 1926 |
| Acquired: | by purchase, 24 March 1931 |
| Commissioned: | 25 March 1933 |
| Decommissioned: | 16 November 1933 |
| Recommissioned: | 1 April 1935 |
| Decommissioned: | 27 July 1935 |
| Recommissioned: | 1 August 1935 |
| Decommissioned: | 9 December 1935 |
| Struck: | 1 October 1968 |
| Fate: | Sold, 1 July 1977 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Yacht |
| Displacement: | 90 long tons (91 t) |
| Length: | 104 ft (32 m) |
| Beam: | 18 ft 2 in (5.54 m) |
| Draft: | 4 ft 5 in (1.35 m) |
| Speed: | 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement: | 10 |
| Armament: | None |
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USS SEQUOIA (yacht)
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USS Sequoia
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| Location: | Washington Channel Washington, D.C. |
| Built: | 1933 |
| Architect: | Trumpy, John; Mathis Yacht Building Co. |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: | 87002594 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP: | December 23, 1987[1] |
| Designated NHL: | December 23, 1987[2] |
USS Sequoia is a former United States presidential yacht used from Herbert Hoover to Jimmy Carter, who had it sold in 1977. The ship was decommissioned under Roosevelt and lost its "USS" status at that time, but by popular convention is still often used.[3] NorshipCo, a Norfolk-based shipbuilder and dry-docking company, repossessed the yacht after its owners, Presidential Yacht Sequoia Foundation, failed to pay the $3 million it cost to renovate the vessel.[4] In June 2000, it was sold off via auction on Bid4Assets.[4] In November 2004 it was sought for repurchase by the U.S. government but today remains privately owned by Gary Silversmith, who has owned it since September 2000.[3]
The yacht is 104 feet long, with a wooden hull, and was designed by John Trumpy Sr., a well-known shipbuilder. It includes a presidential stateroom, guest bedrooms, a galley and dining room, and was at one time retrofitted with an elevator for Franklin D. Roosevelt (Johnson had it removed and replaced with a liquor bar).[3]
The ship was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.[2][5]
Contents |
The Sequoia started out as the Sequoia II, a private yacht built for $200,000 in 1925/1926 at a Camden, New Jersey shipyard. It was built for Richard Cadwalader of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who sold it to William Dunning, the president of the Sequoia Oil Company in Texas.
The Sequoia was purchased in 1931 by the United States Department of Commerce, for Prohibition patrol and decoy duties. Bootleggers would see what they thought was a rich-man's yacht and boat over to offer to sell illegal liquor, and then undercover police would arrest them. Herbert Hoover, an avid fisherman, had decommissioned the presidential yacht the Mayflower in 1929 as an economy measure, and borrowed the Sequoia from the Commerce Department as an unofficial yacht during the last two years of his presidency. Hoover was not personally a supporter of prohibition and drank while on the yacht.[3]
In 1933, it was transferred to the United States Navy, where it was commissioned and given its USS status, serving officially as the presidential yacht for three years, until replaced by the Potomac. It was decommissioned as an official Navy vessel under Roosevelt during WWII, supposedly because Churchill would not drink liquor on a Navy boat, and it remained decommissioned since.[3] From 1936 through 1969 the Sequoia then became the yacht of the Secretary of the Navy. During this period the Sequoia was used by presidents and other high-ranking government officials. From 1969 through 1977 the yacht was dual-use for the Navy and executive branch officials including the president.
At Jimmy Carter's direction, the U.S. government sold it at auction in Manalapan, Florida on 25 March 1977, for $270,000, as a symbolic cutback in Federal Government spending (annual cost to the U.S. Navy was $800,000) and to help eliminate signs of an "imperial presidency".[6]
Notable events aboard the Sequoia include:
And some seem to be legends:.[7]
On May 25, 1973 the NBC Evening News reported that 28 Marines and 18 sailors handling the Sequoia were transferred and reassigned from Camp David due to marijuana offenses.[8]
She had a number of owners over the next 25 years, due in part to the expenses associated with the maintenance of a wooden-hulled vessel. Some owners sought to offer Sequoia for charter, others were non-profit groups seeking to maintain her for historical or other reasons.
The Presidential Yacht Trust, a non-profit organization, acquired her in 1980 and sponsored an eight-month, 6,000-mile "comeback" tour, but this group went bankrupt three years later. The vessel lay derelict for nearly a decade. Around 2000, Japanese buyers had a contract to purchase the vessel, due to some connections the ship has with Japanese history, but a private American buyer, Gary Silversmith, stepped in and made a counter-offer before the Japanese contract was signed.[3] It was purchased for $2 million in September 2000, after a shipyard had her renovated at a cost of over $3 million. Sequoia underwent additional restoration, and was available for private charters for $2500 per hour in 2003. In November 2004, Congress voted to appropriate $2 million to repurchase the Sequoia, but it remains under private ownership. As of 2010 she was docked at the Gangplank Marina in Southwest Washington, D.C.[3]
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