SwiftVets.com

shawa · CNO Joined: 03 Sep 2004 Posts: 2004

Let's see, Jimmah gave away the Panama Canal which now has
Red Chinese ownership of warehouses at each end.
He declared himself a prisoner in the White House as long as Iran
held our hostages (for whatever purpose that served).
Took us to a double-digit "misery index" and sells off a piece of
American history for $270,000 to impress us with his no-frills presidency!
What a loser!!

Return of 'Floating White House'

JACQUI GODDARD
IN MIAMI

THE US is to spend $2 million (£1.03 million) buying back the presidential yacht from a private owner, saving a national treasure from the potential indignity of becoming a floating casino.

The move has delighted those who view the USS Sequoia, which was once dubbed "the floating White House", as a piece of history worth saving.

"It’s a fantastic piece of Americana that deserves the highest level of preservation," said Kim Nielsen, the director of the US Navy Museum in Washington.

Built in 1925 and used by ten presidents since Herbert Hoover, the 104ft Sequoia has hosted hundreds of dignitaries from Winston Churchill, who complained during fishing trips with Franklin D Roosevelt that its deckchairs were too hard, to the Queen and Japan’s Emperor Hirohito.

Originally used in the 1920s to enforce prohibition, it became a Depression-era retreat for Hoover and went on to serve as a floating war-room from which Roosevelt planned the D-Day landings in 1944, along with the Supreme Allied Commander, Dwight D Eisenhower, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and Churchill.

It was aboard the USS Sequoia that President Harry S Truman took the decision to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, later hosting the world’s first nuclear control summit on board, and where Lyndon B Johnson planned strategy during the Vietnam War.

It was a place for celebration - in 1963, John F Kennedy used it for his final birthday party, cruising the Potomac River - and also a place for grim reflection as Richard Nixon took the decision to resign in 1974.

It has also undergone various changes over the years. Franklin D Roosevelt, who was crippled by polio, had a lift installed to save the crew having to carry him from deck to deck.

Johnson later had the lift ripped out and a bar installed in its place in the dining room, giving him somewhere to pour his favourite tipple, Scotch on the rocks. He also ordered the floor of the shower be lowered by 3in, in order to accommodate his gangly 6ft 3in frame.

Jimmy Carter was not such a fan of the Sequoia, auctioning it in 1977 for $270,000 (£139,175) saying that there was no place for such luxuries in his no-frills presidency.

Jimmy Silversmith, a Washington lawyer who now owns the yacht, hires it out for receptions and weddings at $10,000 (£5,154) a time, though he says that he is taking care to preserve its dignity, even turning down an approach from the lingerie company Victoria’s Secret to drape bikini-clad models around the boat for a photo-shoot.

However, he says far more than $2 million will be needed to buy the yacht outright.

The money was slipped into a $388 billion (£200 billion) spending bill approved by Congress, angering some politicians at a time when education budgets have been slashed, the national debt increased and the war bill is rising daily.

"When we’re sending American men and women to war in Iraq without the necessary body armour and equipment, why in the world are we spending money on a yacht?" demanded congressman James Oberstar.

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1406492004

RogerRabbit · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 3:18 am Post subject:

Just to correct a few errors in the above posting

A 104 foot wooden Yacht built privately in 1925 was acquired by the Commerce Dept in March of 1931 and transferred to the Navy March 1933 and commissioned as Sequoia AG-23. She was usec as Presidential yacht off and on until 1936 when she was then assigned as SecNav yacht.

The Coast Guard Cutter Electra, a 165 footer built in 1934 was the acquired by the Navy and commissioned POTOMC AG-25 and used as Presidential yacht . She operated mainly in the Chesapeake Bay area but made occasional cruise to Bahamas and Florida. It was POTOMAC that had the special lift for Roosevelt. She did make a trip to Cape Cod with Roosevelt where he boarded the Cruiser Augusta for a conference with Churchill.

She was condemned as unseaworthy due to being top heavy from a added superstructure. She never sailed in open waters again and was decommissioned 18 November 1945 and returned to the Coast Guard

The POTOMAC was replaced by WILLIAMSBURG PG-56 and redesignated AGC-369 and seved two presidents Truman and Eisenhower. Ike made one trip on her to Williamsburg VA then ordered her decommissined 30 June 1953.

Williamsburg was the last presidential yacht . I have no idea where the Scotsman got that information as none of it is true. The only one capable of a ocean crossing was the Williamsburg but she spent the entire WWII as a gunboat
_________________
"Si vis pacem, para bellum"

shawa · CNO Joined: 03 Sep 2004 Posts: 2004

http://www.sequoiayacht.com/importance.htm

http://www.sequoiayacht.us/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1359854

http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=6944

http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w9/williamsburg.htm

http://www.hazegray.org/features/yachts/

This has been kinda confusing, but it seems the original Sequoia was
brought back to Presidential use in 1969.

RogerRabbit · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 4:43 am Post subject:

But she was not Presidential yacht after 1936 - there was no war room - she did serve at the Wahington Navy Yard carrying dignitaries etc - but not as presidential yacht. Williamsberg was the last one

http://www.usspotomac.org/

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/AG/AG-25_Potomac.html

http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s10/sequoia-ii.htm
_________________
"Si vis pacem, para bellum"

shawa · CNO Joined: 03 Sep 2004 Posts: 2004

Roger

I guess I was adding the last link to my post while you were posting
yours.

Thanks for making me do some research.

I remember it was the Sequoia that Nixon used and
Carter sold. I never knew there were several presidential yachts.

The last link Hazegray shows the whole line of Presidential yachts.
The original Sequoia was brought back to Presidential use in 1969.
Dual use SecNav and Presidential Yacht.

I B Squidly · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 7:00 am Post subject:

Try this link:

http://home.mchsi.com/~cbretvet/Yachts/Yachts3.html

The Sequoia was in service the same time as Kennedy's Honey Fitz and Truman's Honey J. Additionally there was a fleet of service boats, Ski boats and jet boats designated 'Presidential'. The confusion is compounded by each president refurbishing and renaming each of them to suit his taste.

RogerRabbit · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 1:33 pm Post subject:

I guess we are referring to two different things, I am talking about official yachts, the ones commissioned in the USN and carried on the registry.

WILLIMSBURG was the last. The others were used and maintained by the Administration or some other agency.

SEQUOIA ( I guess could be referred as last) was used as a vessel for dignataries - but was designated a Presidential yacght again in Januaty 1969 til June of 1969 and then reverted back to her duties as a vessel for dignatariy use until 1974
The others are not listed in DANFS except GUARDIAN a PT boat used to escort HONEY FITZ
_________________
"Si vis pacem, para bellum"

shawa · CNO Joined: 03 Sep 2004 Posts: 2004

Roger, do you have any idea of where the Williamsburg is today.
I have a keen interest in the preservation of our nation's history
for future generations.
I found this site regarding preservation efforts, last updated in 2002.
The USS Williamsburg Preservation Society attempts to reclaim
the ship but doesn't list a location.

http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/preserve.htm#gone