USS Small IX: Auxiliary Schooners etc. (4)

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USS Saluda (IX-87) on 6 October 1964
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.

Class:        Small IX: Auxiliary Schooners etc. (4)
Design        Small acquired. These specifications are for IX-87.
Displacement (tons):        90 tons, 61 tons gross
Dimensions (feet):        88.6' oa, 62.0' wl x 18.0' x 10.7'
Original Armament:        Small or none
Later armaments:        --
Complement        10 (1944)
Speed (kts.):        9
Propulsion (HP):        100
Machinery:        1 screw, Superior (later Gray) diesel.

Construction:

IX	Name	Acq.	Builder	Keel	Launch	Commiss.
82	LUSTER	21 Jul 42	M. M. Davis	--	1936	14 Aug 42
83	ASHLEY	29 Jul 42	T. Berlin Albury	--	1937	11 Sep 42
84	CONGAREE	11 Aug 42	Jakobson & Petersen	--	9 Jun 38	17 Oct 42
85	EUHAW	18 Aug 42	George S. Lawley & Sons	--	1910	13 Oct 42
86	POCOTALIGO	18 Aug 42	Marco U. Martinolich	--	1926	13 Oct 42
87	SALUDA	31 Jul 42	Henry B. Nevins	--	1938	17 Oct 42
88	WIMBEE	30 Jul 42	Ernst Burmester, Bremen	22 Feb 36	21 Apr 36	11 Sep 42
89	ROMAIN	18 Aug 42	Symonette SB	--	1938	25 Nov 42
90	FORBES	19 Aug 42	Marco U. Martinolich	--	1927	21 Jan 43

Disposition:

IX	Name	Decomm.	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale
82	LUSTER	26 Jun 44	29 Jul 44	20 Dec 44	MC/S	20 Dec 44
83	ASHLEY	ca Mar 43	16 Nov 43	5 Jan 46	MC/S	5 Jan 46
84	CONGAREE	15 Mar 43	10 Jun 47	15 Apr 47	MC/S	15 Apr 47
85	EUHAW	17 Mar 43	28 Jun 44	1 Nov 44	MC/S	1 Nov 44
86	POCOTALIGO	17 Mar 43	28 Jun 44	14 Mar 45	MC/S	14 Mar 45
87	SALUDA	1971	15 Apr 74	1978	Trf.	--
88	WIMBEE	17 Mar 43	28 Jun 44	7 Feb 45	MC/S	7 Feb 45
89	ROMAIN	17 Mar 43	28 Jun 44	3 Jan 45	MC/S	3 Jan 45
90	FORBES	15 Mar 43	12 Aug 43	21 Mar 45	MC/S	21 Mar 45

Class Notes:
FY 1942 BuShips Maintenance funds (all). The specifications above are for IX-87, those for the others are in the Ship Notes.

IX 82-90: On 21 Jul 42 CNO asked WSA and BuShips to requisition-purchase nine yachts for the Navy with delivery to Com-7: KO-ASA, WINSLOW, WAKIVA, MAYHAP, MARPATCHA, ODYSSEY, CONDOR, MEREDA, and MORNING STAR. They were designated IX 82-90 respectively and in September 1942 most (IX 83-89) were renamed after rivers, Indian tribes, and a cape in South Carolina (IX-89). The histories of all but IX-87 and IX-88 are summarized in the ship notes.

IX-87, the only one of this group to serve beyond 1944, remained active until 1974. This yawl had been designed by Sparkman & Stephens, Inc., and built at City Island, N.Y. Acquired from Mrs. Barklie Henry of Long Island, N.Y., she completed conversion 15 Sep 42 and was placed in service with the rest of her group in the 7th Naval District. Selected for layup 24 Mar 43 with others of the group, she may have been placed out of service earlier in March. However she was then placed in full commission on 20 Jun 43 for experimental work for BuShips. On 5 Aug 44 CNO ordered her to proceed to the Underwater Sound Laboratory at New London, and she arrived there 3 Sep 44. She was decommissioned and placed in service on 7 Jan 47 for continued duty at New London. In January 1948 she was reassigned to the U.S. Navy Electronics Laboratory at San Diego, and underwent repairs at the Thames Shipyard, Groton, Conn., in May and June 1948 before arriving at San Diego in company with SERRANO (ATF-112) on 15 Oct 48. In 1955 her crew consisted of a Navy Chief Boatswain as officer in charge and a crew of civilians furnished by the Laboratory. She had served since 1948 mainly as a quiet platform for sea tests of sonar problems. She was also occasionally sponsored by the Navy in local sailing races and was widely known in local yachting circles for her size and for the number and size of her spinnakers. She was reclassified YAG-87 on 29 Jun 68. Stricken from the Navy List on 15 Apr 74, she was turned over in 1978 to the Mount Rainier Council of the Boy Scouts, who renamed her ODYSSEY. Based in Tacoma, she is still active with the Sea Scouts. Her web site is www.sssodyssey.org.

The wartime history of IX-88 is documented in great detail by Christopher C. Wright in "Warship International," Vol. 43 (2006), No. 4, pages 347-354, while the rest of the yacht's history is presented on her web site, www.roland-von-bremen.com. A Bermuda yawl, she was designed by Heinrich Grueber and built at Bremen, Germany, as ROLAND VON BREMEN for a German consortium. Shipped to America, she competed in the 1936 Newport to Bermuda race and then won a race from Bermuda to Cuxhaven, Germany. In 1938 she was sold to a German named Berson who had to emigrate to the United States because he was Jewish. He renamed her CONDOR and fitted an auxiliary engine. The Navy acquired her in 1942 from L. W. MacFarland of Old Greenwich, Conn. She was overhauled for Navy service between 30 Jul 42 and 5 Sep 42 at Merrill-Stevens Dry Dock Co., Miami, Fla., and was placed in service on 11 Sep 42. She operated out of Port Everglades, Fla., as did the other sailing craft of the IX 82-90 group along with two coastal and two yard minesweepers, ten YP patrol craft, one miscellaneous auxiliary (YAG-16), and five other small craft. Active patrols by the sailing vessels ended on 13 Mar 43 and they were placed out of service a few days later as part of a Navy-wide effort to free up manpower for manning the new construction patrol craft and destroyer escorts that were then entering service in large quantities. The sailing craft were retained for a while on the chance they might be needed later but most were disposed of in 1944 and early 1945. IX-88 was sold in February 1945 to Paul W. Liskey, Jr., of Harrisonburg, Va., who renamed her CONDOR and took her to California. There she was purchased by the oil magnate Howard Keck, who restored her original name of ROLAND VON BREMEN, renovated her at the Wilmington Boat Works in San Pedro, and raced her in the Pacific. After several more changes in American ownership she was sold to two Germans who sailed in her out of San Francisco in April 1971 and arrived at Helgoland, Germany, in August 1972. After serving in Germany as a schoolship and charter sailer, she was fully restored as a traditional yacht in 2001-2003 and continues to operate today.

Ship Notes:

IX	Name	Notes
82	LUSTER	Ex yacht "Ko-asa" (renamed 2 Sep 42). Auxiliary bugeye ketch. 51 tons light, 68 tons gross. 82.5' oa, 65.0' wl x 20.0' x 5.0'. Wood hull. 1 Buda diesel, 150 HP, 8 kts. Crew 12 (1944). Designed by Gielow, Inc., and built at Solomons Is., Md. Acquired from George Marshall Allen of New York. Placed out of service 24 Mar 43. Assigned by CNO on 8 Jan 44 to the Supervisor of Salvage at Miami for operation by a civilian crew under Merritt-Chapman & Scott and delivered 22 Jan 44. Out of service again 26 Jun 44. Sold in December 1944 to Miami Iron & Metals, Miami, Fla., she resumed service as the yacht "Ko-Asa" and was still in service in 1972.
83	ASHLEY	Ex yacht WINSLOW (renamed 4 Sep 42). Auxiliary schooner. 32 tons light, 41 tons gross. 65.0' oa, 59.0' wl x 17.7' x 3.8'. Wood hull. 1 Kermath diesel, 80 HP, 7.5 kts. Designed by Lawrence Huntington and built at Harbor Islands, Bahamas. Acquired from the Florida-Adirondack School, Inc., Coconut Grove, Fla. Selected for layup on 24 Mar 43 and probably out of service earlier in March. Considered unfit for further Naval service by an Insurv Board. Sold in January 1946 to Wallace Groves of Baltimore, Md., she became the passenger vessel LITTLE WHALE EXPRESS and was transferred to British registry in 1947.
84	CONGAREE	Ex yacht WAKIVA (renamed 4 Sep 42). Auxiliary yawl. 33 tons light, 35 tons gross. 70.25' oa, 49.5' wl x 15.2' x 9.0'. Buda diesel, 50 HP, 7.5 kts. Wood hull. 1 Buda diesel, 50 HP. Crew 11 (1944). Designed by Sparkman & Stephens and built at Brooklyn for Harkness Edwards of Pittsburgh and Miami, from whom she was acquired. Converted by Warrier (?) & DesRoches, Inc. between 24 Aug 42 and 14 Sep 42. On 1 May 46 CNO ordered her to Annapolis for duty at the Naval Academy but she was declared surplus at Annapolis on 22 Oct 46. Sold in April 1947 to J. Owen Reynolds of Lexington, Ky., she became the yacht KITTYHAWK and was taken out of documentation in 1955.
85	EUHAW	Ex yacht MAYHAP (renamed 4 Sep 42), ex NURMAH. Auxiliary yawl. 49 tons light, 59 tons gross. 84.0' oa, 60.0 wl x 19.0' x 5.8' Wood hull. 1 Sterling gas engine (fitted 1922), replaced by a 110 HP Gray diesel, 9 kts. Crew 10 (1944). Designed by F. D. Lawley and built at South Boston, Mass. Acquired from John N. Matthews of New York, she completed conversion on 11 Sep 42. Sold back to Mr. Matthews in November 1944, she resumed service as the yacht MAYHAP and was transferred to British registry in 1958.
86	POCOTALIGO	Ex yacht MARPATCHA (renamed 4 Sep 42), ex LYNX. Auxiliary schooner. 50 tons light, 60 tons gross. 96.0' oa, 69.0' wl x 17.75' x 12.25' Steel hull. 1 Caterpillar diesel (fitted 1938), 135 HP, 12 kts. Crew 12 (1944). Designed by George Owen and built at Lussinpiccolo, Italy. Acquired from Charles Deere Wiman of Deere & Co. (the farm equipment firm) at Moline, Ill., and sold back to him in March 1945. She resumed service in 1945 as the yacht MARPATCHA and was transferred to Mexican registry in 1964.
87	SALUDA	Ex yacht ODYSSEY (renamed 4 Sep 42). Auxiliary yawl, wood hull. Specifications above. Designed by Sparkman & Stephens for Mrs. Barklie Henry of Long Island, N.Y., a Vanderbilt granddaughter, and acquired by the Navy from her. See class notes for later history.
88	WIMBEE	Ex yacht CONDOR (renamed 4 Sep 42), ex ROLAND VON BREMEN 1938. Auxiliary yawl. 21 tons light, 22 tons gross. 59.0' oa, 42.0' wl x 13.3' x 9.0'. Wood plank hull, steel frame. 1 Gray gas engine (fitted 1938), 71 HP, 7 kts. Crew 8 (1944). See class notes for more of her history.
89	ROMAIN	Ex yacht MERIDA (renamed 15 Sep 42). Auxiliary schooner. 63 tons light, 66 tons gross. 84.0' oa, 68.0' wl x 20.0' x 8.5' Wood hull. 1 Buda diesel. Crew 10 (1944). Designed by John G. Alden and built at Nassau, Bahamas. Sold in January 1945 to Robert C. Rathbone, Englewood, N.J., from whom she had been acquired. She became the yacht DEBOTHA 5TH, was renamed SALT AIR II in 1947, and was taken out of documentation in 1950.
90	FORBES	Ex yacht MORNING STAR (renamed 16 Sep 42), ex DORELLO III. Auxiliary schooner. 110 tons light, 63 tons gross. 98.0' oa, 68.0' wl x 17.8' x 12.25'. Steel hull. 1 Buda diesel (fitted 1936). Crew 14 (1944). Designed by Nicolo Martonolich and built at Lussinpiccolo, Italy. Owned in 1942 by Pond School Cruise, Inc., of Annapolis, Md., and Bridgeport, Conn. She resumed service as the yacht MORNING STAR and by 1949 was owned by Richard S. Rheem of Los Angeles, who sold her in the late 1950s. Now ketch rigged, she grounded in a storm on 19 Jun 63 on Providencia Island east of Nicaragua while enroute to participate in the Newport Trans-Atlantic Race.