USS Sequoia (presidential yacht)

Infobox nrhp
name = USS SEQUOIA (yacht)
nrhp_type = nhl


caption = USS "Sequoia"
location = Hains Point
Washington, D.C.
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designated=December 23, 1987
added = December 23, 1987
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refnum = 87002594
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USS "Sequoia" is a former United States presidential yacht currently in private ownership but as of November 2004 sought for repurchase by the U.S. government.

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 retrofitted with an elevator for Franklin D. Roosevelt. The ship was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

History

Construction

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.

U.S. Government service

The "Sequoia" was purchased in 1931 by the United States Department of Commerce, for Prohibition patrol and decoy duties. Herbert Hoover, an avid angler, had decommissioned the presidential yacht the USS "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.

In 1933, it was transferred to the Navy, serving officially as the presidential yacht for three years, until replaced by the "Potomac". 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 1977 for $270,000, as a symbolic cutback.

Notable events aboard the "Sequoia" include:

* Herbert Hoover sailed her to Florida.
* Dwight Eisenhower loaned her to Queen Elizabeth II during her state visit to the U.S.
* John F. Kennedy held strategy meetings during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
* Richard M. Nixon negotiated the SALT I arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev and Anatoly Dobrynin, and later made the decision to resign the presidency.
* Gerald Ford conducted Cabinet meetings.
* Ronald Reagan met all 50 state governors at the gangplank.
* George H. W. Bush met with Chinese premier Li Peng.

And some seems to be legends: [http://www.sequoiayacht.com/historychannel.htm Sequoia documentary on History Channel, 2005.] ] .
* Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower planned European war strategy (this may have been aboard the "Potomac").
* Harry S. Truman decided to bomb Hiroshima (the decision was made during the Postdam conference).

After decommissioning

It 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 it for charter, others were non-profit groups seeking to maintain it for historical or other reasons.

The Presidential Yacht Trust, a non-profit organization, acquired it 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, and was eventually purchased for $2 million in September 2000, after a shipyard had it renovated at a cost of over $3 million. It underwent additional restoration, and as of 2003 was available for private charters for $2500 per hour.

In November 2004, Congress voted to appropriate $2 million to repurchase the "Sequoia".

External links and sources

Sources for this article include "The Presidential Yacht U.S.S. "Sequoia": Restoring a Time-Honored American Tradition" (the January 1983 cover story of "Architectural Digest") and the following:
* [http://www.sequoiayacht.com/ Sequoia Yacht Group LLC website] , with history and other information
* [http://www.sequoiayacht.com/historychannel.htm Sequoia documentary on History Channel]
* [http://www.hazegray.org/features/yachts/index.htm Photos and descriptions of U.S. Presidential Yachts]
* [http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail2.cfm?ResourceId=2029&Date=&Ownership=Private&priorityname=&ResourceType=Structure Entry for the yacht] from the U.S. National Historic Landmark website
* [http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/AG23.htm U.S. Navy's Navy Vessel Registry entry]
* [http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=6944 Presidential Yacht Sailors Reunite with Historic Ship] , a 2003 press release from the U.S. Naval Historical Center
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQK/is_3_4/ai_55492378 Saving Sequoia, the Yacht of Presidents] , a May 1999 article
* United States Naval Historical Center, "Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships".