USS Potomac (AG-25)

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USS Potomac (AG-25) Template:Infobox ship image Template:Infobox ship career Template:Infobox ship career Template:Infobox ship characteristics Template:Infobox NRHP

USS Potomac (AG-25), formerly USCGC Electra,<ref name="nhlwriteup"> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}
{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} </ref> was Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidential yacht from 1936 until his death in 1945. On 3 August 1941, she played a decoy role while Roosevelt held a secret conference to develop the Atlantic Charter.

USS Potomac and Template:USS are the last two existing U.S. presidential yachts, after Template:USS was scrapped in January 2016.<ref name="nhlsum"/> Potomac is now preserved in Oakland, California, as a National Historic Landmark and the only presidential yacht open to the public.<ref name=":52"/>

Service history

1934–1945

Electra (center) in 1934, before her launching, alongside her sisters Dione and Pandora

Potomac was built in 1934 by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, as the United States Coast Guard Cutter Electra. Commissioned on 25 October 1934, Electra was a submarine chaser<ref>Scheina, R. (1982). U.S. Coast Guard cutters & craft of World War II. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press.</ref> that served in anti-bootlegging operations.<ref name=":22">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.</ref> She was chosen to be the new presidential yacht after the Secret Service deemed Template:USS a fire hazard.<ref name=":03">Template:Cite journal</ref> 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.<ref name=":52">Jaffee, W. (1998). The Presidential Yacht Potomac. Palo Alto: The Glencannon Press.Template:Page needed</ref> He also wanted a vessel in which he could move independently and take fishing trips.<ref name=":52" /> Electra was officially renamed USS Potomac on 30 January 1936, converted to serve as a presidential yacht and commissioned into the United States Navy on 2 March 1936.<ref name=":52" />

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.<ref name=":03" /> These upgrades included the conversion of the aft smokestack to a false one, a new salon, installation of brass fixtures, the presidential stateroom and bath, three guest cabins and teak decks. Additions to the fantail included a vast leather settee, patio furniture and bulletproof glass.<ref name=":03" /> In the false smokestack, there was an elevator with a pulley system designed so that President Roosevelt could transport himself to the boat deck.<ref name=":03" /> The fantail couch is designed so that each sitting party has their legs completely stretched out when sitting back and the president could sit equally as his guests with his legs supported.<ref name=":122">Template:Cite journal</ref> An antiaircraft machine gun was installed and mounted when the president was on board.<ref name=":52" /> Ship ballast was added to the vessel to account for these upgrades.<ref name=":52" /> However, the ship still rolled as far as 48 degrees in rough waters, causing many a guest to turn to the rail. The president, being the sailor he was, was affected little.

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt with George VI and Queen Elizabeth, sailing from Washington, D.C., to Mount Vernon on USS Potomac (9 June 1939)

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.<ref name=":122"/> In 1939 the United Kingdom's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth travelled with the Roosevelts aboard Potomac to George Washington's home at Mount Vernon. This was the first visit by British royalty to an American president.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite journal</ref> The ship now commissioned USS Potomac was categorized as AG-25, indicating the Navy ship designation of Auxiliary Miscellaneous and number 25th in this designation,<ref name=":52"/> and was known informally as the “Floating White House”.<ref name=":122"/>

It is rumored that the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 was signed on board the ship.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ship logs have been recovered documenting voyages to the Gulf of Mexico and Dry Tortugas, Florida.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite journal</ref> On 28 March 1941, President Roosevelt delivered a fireside chat to the nation from the radio room of USS Potomac in which he stated "the time calls for courage and more courage."<ref>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</ref> After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the yacht was considered a potential target and used more cautiously by the president.<ref name=":4"/>

On 3 August 1941, President Roosevelt left Washington to board Potomac at the submarine base at New London, Connecticut. Potomac then sailed for Apponagansett Bay, Massachusetts, where the president did some fishing and entertained guests including Crown Princess Märtha of Norway. Eventually Potomac anchored in Menemsha Bight in Vineyard Sound, where the heavy cruiser Template:USS already lay at anchor. In the early hours of 5 August Potomac came alongside Augusta and the president and his party transferred to the warship. Augusta then proceeded at high speed to Newfoundland for a clandestine meeting between Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. During this meeting, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to the Atlantic Charter, laying out the principles of the Allied partnership during World War II and setting the scene for the United Nations to plan the post-war peace.

In the meantime and for security purposes, the President's flag continued to be flown from Potomac while she transited the Cape Cod Canal in New England waters. A Secret Service man, approximating the president in size and affecting his mannerisms when visible from a distance, played a starring role in the deception. Press releases issued daily from Potomac led all who read them to believe that the president was really embarked on a pleasure cruise on his yacht. After the meetings, Augusta returned the president to Potomac on 14 August.

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 decommissioned by President Harry S. Truman, who chose the larger Template:USS as his presidential yacht.<ref name=":3" /> Unlike his predecessor, Truman was not a sailor and could not handle the extreme rolling on the Potomac. Being an accomplished classical pianist, Truman also wanted a grand piano aboard his yacht, which the Potomac could not accommodate. The Coast Guard decommissioned Potomac on 23 May 1946.<ref name=":22" />

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.<ref name=":22" /> To accommodate President Roosevelt's need for wheelchair accessibility, a concealed elevator had been installed inside what had been one of PotomacTemplate:'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, Template:USS.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Potomac was sold to Warren G. Toone in April 1960 and ostensibly used as a private ferry boat between Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. In reality she was used for offshore gambling.In 1962, there was a failed attempt to attend the World's Fair in Seattle due to engine trouble in Long Beach.<ref name=":122" /> She was registered in 1963 by Hydro-Capital in Newport Beach, California as a museum ship with call sign WA9710.<ref name=":22" /> Records show PotomacTemplate:'s home port was Los Angeles from 1963 to 1967.<ref name=":22" /> 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.<ref name=":22" /> Potomac was then registered in 1967 to Marie Augustina Pagliasso of Sanger, California with the call sign WA9710.<ref name=":22" /> In January 1970, the vessel was out of documentation. It was rumored that there were plans to turn the yacht into a floating disco.<ref name=":03" />

1980–present

Inside the wheelhouse of USS Potomac

In 1980, Potomac was involved in a large-scale drug-running operation in Mexico, which led to a drug bust at San Francisco's Pier 26.<ref name=":22"/> No drugs were found aboard the yacht, but drugs were found aboard the yacht it had been traveling with. Potomac was seized by the United States Customs Service and towed to nearby Treasure Island, where she sank.<ref name=":22"/>

The vessel is said to have sunk due to a hull that had not been properly maintained and experienced thinning.<ref name=":122"/> It had been taking in water for some time.<ref name=":122"/>

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.<ref name=":22"/>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=":122"/> 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.<ref>Schwarzer, M. (2014). A Tale of Two Waterfronts: Oakland's Jack London Square Competes with San Francisco. California History, 91(4), 6-30.</ref>

A team of volunteers, crew and donors work to uphold the legacy of the historic presidential yacht.<ref name=":52"/> She continues to be berthed at Jack London Square and preserved by the Potomac Association, chaired by Michael Roosevelt, a grandson of FDR.<ref name=":03"/> She is open to dockside tours and regular cruises on San Francisco Bay.

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Awards

See also

References

Notes

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Bibliography

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Template:The Manitowoc Company Template:Thetis class patrol boats Template:Oakland Attractions Template:National Register of Historic Places in California

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