Wartime designation: USS Sea Cloud (IX-99)
Sail Number:
Type: Four-Mashed Barque
LOA: 316’0″ / 96.00m – LOD: – LWL: – Beam: 49’2″ / 14.99m – Draft: 19 ‘0″ / 5.80m – Displacement: 3,077 tons – Ballast: – Original Owner: Edward F. Hutton, Marjorie Merriweather Post – Original Name: Hussar V – Year Launched: April 25, 1931 – Designed by: Cox & Stevens – Built by: Krupp family shipyard in Kiel, Germany – Hull Material: – Propulsion: Diesel-electric; two shafts
Historical:
Sea Cloud was built in Kiel, Germany, as a barque for Marjorie Merriweather Post and her second husband Edward F. Hutton of Wall Street’s E. F. Hutton & Co.. She was launched in 1931 as Hussar V; at the time of her construction, she was the largest private yacht in the world. In 1935, the United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Joseph E. Davies, married Marjorie Merriweather Post. Mr. and Mrs. Davies renamed the ship Sea Cloud. Although Mrs. Davies owned the ship, she allowed Mr. Davies to claim ownership of the vessel. As a man with political influence, Davies entertained many high-profile people on the ship, including Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. The ship even served as an informal embassy, as Soviet and United States officials stayed and met on the vessel.
The HUSSAR was built for one purpose: to take the Huttons in their customary luxury to all those places they felt their presence was desirable, whether for representative or business reasons or simply the pleasure of travel and adventure. The HUSSAR spent at least nine months of the year at sea – and the Huttons set course for such exotic destinations as the Galapagos Islands, Hawaii and the Mediterranean
Coast Guard Service:
Mrs. Davies had first offered the ship to the U.S. Department of the Navy in 1941, but the Navy turned her down. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt objected to the ship entering service, remarking that she was too beautiful to be sacrificed. However, on January 7, 1942, the Navy reassessed their position, chartering the ship for $1 per year. The Navy sent Sea Cloud from Georgetown, South Carolina, to the United States Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland, to be refitted as a “weather observation station vessel”, and had its four masts removed and hull painted battleship gray. Sea Cloud was commissioned as a United States Coast Guard Cutter on April 4, 1942, and assigned to the Eastern Sea Frontier, with a permanent home port in Boston.
During 1942, Sea Cloud mostly served as a weather ship at Weather Patrol Station Number Two (position 52°0′N 42°30′W). On June 6, 1942, the ship rescued eight survivors from the schooner Maria da Gloria. On August 3, 1942 and August 4, 1942, Sea Cloud served at Weather Patrol Station Number One while USS Manhasset was converted to a weather ship.
WWII service
In 1943, the Navy asked for control of Sea Cloud and Nourmahal, another former yacht converted into a weather ship. On April 9, 1943, the United States Navy commissioned Sea Cloud as USS Sea Cloud (IX-99), though she maintained a Coast Guard crew.[2] She was assigned to Task Force 24.
Relieving USCGC Conifer in February 1944, Sea Cloud patrolled a 100-square-mile (260 km2) area near the New England coast, generating weather reports for the First Naval District. On February 27, 1944, Sea Cloud traveled to be refurbished at Atlantic Yard in East Boston, afterwards taking over a new one-hundred square mile area at Weather Station Number One.
On April 5, 1944, Sea Cloud received radar indication of a small target at position 39°27′N 62°30′W, bearing 350° at 3,000 yards (2,700 m). General quarters were sounded and battle stations manned, but contact was lost ten minutes later. The target was identified as a submarine, but after Sea Cloud carried out standard anti-submarine drills with no evidence of damage being inflicted, she returned to port. After minor repairs, Sea Cloud was rebased to Argentia, Newfoundland, where she was assigned to Weather Station Number Three. While patrolling the area on June 11, 1944, the crew spotted a Navy Grumman TBF Avenger, exchanging recognition signals. Sea Cloud received orders to report to the escort carrier Croatan and join the five other escort ships under her command. The envoy searched for a raft reported in the area, but returned with no sightings. After this event, Sea Cloud was once again reassigned to Weather Station Number Four. After a search for a downed aircraft, she returned to port in Boston. Sea Cloud was decommissioned on November 4, 1944, at the Bethlehem Steel Atlantic Yard and returned to Davies, along with $175,000 for conversion to pre-war appearance.
For her wartime service, Sea Cloud was awarded the American Campaign Medal and the World War Two Victory Medal.
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Notable Guest, and Reunion Information):
Owner: (1931 – 1935) – Edward Francis Hutton, Marjorie Merriweather Post., Name Hussar V (1931–35)
Owner: (1935 -1944) – Mr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Davies (Merriweather Post), renamed Sea Cloud.
Guest: Queen Elisabeth of Belgium
Owner: (April 9, 1943 -November 4, 1944) – World War II Service
Owner: (1945 – 1955) – Marjorie Merriweather Post.,
Owner: (1955) – Dominican Republic, Presidential yacht, renamed Angelita
Owner: (1966 – 1969) – Operation Sea Cruises, Inc., renamed Patria
Owner: (1969) – Antarna Inc., renamed Antarna
Owner: (1978) – Hartmut Paschburg, Hamburg associates. eight months undergoing repairs in the now-named Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft shipyard, the very yard she was built in.