USS Yacona (SP-617)

USS "Yacona" (SP-617), built in 1898 in Scotland, started its life as a civilian steam yacht. She was called Cem and Amélia in her early years and only later renamed Yacona, the name it had when it was acquired by the US Navy in September 1917.

During the period when she was called "Amélia", the 527 gross ton vessel was owned by D. Carlos, King of Portugal between 1889 and 1908, who was an oceanographer and used her on his research voyages. She was known as Amélia III, being the third of four yachts owned by D. Carlos sharing the same name.

USS "Yacona"

World War I

"Yacona"—a steel-hulled screw steam yacht formerly named "Cem" and "Amélia"—was built in 1898 at Kinghorn, Scotland, by John Scott and Co., shipwrights, and was purchased around 1906 by Henry Clay Pierce, of New York City, a noted financier and oil industry pioneer. The Navy acquired the yacht at New York City on 29 September 1917, inspecting her at Shewan Shipyard. On the same day (10 October) that that yard estimated that the alterations necessary to fit the ship out as an armed patrol vessel could be completed by 1 November, the Navy ordered her to proceed to Boston where the previous owner’s own workmen could remove the pleasure craft’s interior woodwork. "Yacona" got underway on 12 October from the Shewan yard, but grounded in the channel at New York’s Hell Gate. Taken to the New York Navy Yard for minor repairs, the ship ultimately made the shift to her original destination (Boston), and fitted out at the Boston Navy Yard. Assigned the designation "SP-917" and regarded as “one of the strongest and best built vessels of her size…that will make a most serviceable vessel,” "Yacona" was commissioned on 10 December 1917, LCDR John W. Wilcox, Jr. , in command.

"Yacona" put to sea early on 20 December 1917 and anchored off Provincetown, Massachusetts, later that day. The next day, she test-fired her main battery, firing four rounds from each 3-inch gun and 50 rounds from each Colt machine gun, and “found same to be in good working order.” The converted yacht returned to the New York Navy Yard three days before Christmas, and remained there into February 1918, a period punctuated by one brief interval underway, when the ship got underway, assisted by tug , and submarine chasers , . En route to the Azores, "Yacona" conducted gunnery and general quarters drills and made part of the passage under sail to conserve coal. She and her convoy stood in to Ponta Delgada on the morning of 22 April; the yacht moored alongside the Russian bark "Montrosa". After coaling ship, "Yacona" headed for Bermuda on 4 May, in company with "Wadena" and the fuel ship . Reaching Bermuda on 10 September, she sailed five days later for the Azores in company with cruiser USS|Chicago|1885|2 and tugs "Arctic" and "Goliah" and a covey of submarine chasers, and arrived at her destination on 27 September. As the converted yacht prepared to sail from Ponta Delgada on 2 October, however, her port anchor fouled the mooring gear. To “expedite matters and join the convoy” then sailing for Hamilton, she slipped the anchor and convert|15|fathom of chain. Less than a half hour into the first dog watch on 9 October, while steaming in company with "Chicago", "Arethusa", "Goliah", "Arctic" and "Undaunted", the yacht spotted another “suspicious object” on the surface and went to general quarters. She commenced firing three minutes later but, after identifying her target as a drifting buoy, ceased fire.

"Yacona" arrived back at St. George's Harbour, Bermuda, on 12 October 1918; departed those waters on 5 November, bound for New York. Making the initial leg of the voyage in company with the tug "Iroquois" and her tow, the freighter "Seguranca", the yacht arrived at the New York Navy Yard on 11 November 1918, the day that the armistice ended World War I.

Post-war service

"Yacona" was next attached to Division 3, Battleship Force 1, United States Atlantic Fleet, "Yacona" departed Boston on 10 December 1918, transited the Cape Cod Canal on 11 December, and anchored off the mouth of the York River on 13 December on account of heavy fog. The following day, she shifted her anchorage upriver and, on 15 December, briefly embarked Rear Admiral Thomas Washington, commander of the battleship division to which the ship had been attached, when he came on board from his flagship, USS|Rhode Island|BB-17|2. After moving to Hampton Roads the day after Christmas of 1918, "Yacona" sailed for New York in company with converted yacht USS|Aramis|SP-418|2. The two ships arrived off Tompkinsville on 13 January 1919. "Yacona" then got underway for New London two days later, arriving there on 16 January.

Placed in the Reserve Squadron, Antisubmarine Squadron in Training, in January 1919, "Yacona" remained at New London into June, principally in a succession of berths alongside the State Pier there. She departed New London on 13 June and arrived at the New York Navy Yard on 16 June to unload her ammunition and have her guns removed. On 26 June 1919, the converted yacht was decommissioned and placed in reserve at the New York Navy Yard.  On 22 April 1920, the Navy decided to sell the vessel but, on 14 September, cancelled the sale order.

Taken out of reserve and recommissioned on 11 October 1920, LCDR Ralph E. Simpson in command, "Yacona" remained at the navy yard into February 1921, being cleaned and painted preparatory to a voyage to the Far East. Upon completion of her overhaul, she departed New York on 1 March and proceeded to Bermuda, utilizing sails for part of the passage to conserve coal. After calling at Hamilton from 5 to 14 March, "Yacona" pressed on across the Atlantic, visiting Ponta Delgada from 24 to 29 March and reaching Gibraltar on 3 April.  She remained at that British bastion for almost a month, weighing anchor on the 28th and heading for Malta on the next leg of her passage to the Orient. While at Malta from 3 to 8 May, "Yacona" full-dressed ship in honor of the anniversary of the accession of King George V to the throne of England and, along with all other ships and batteries in the harbor, fired a 21-gun national salute at noon on 6 May to celebrate the event. "Yacona" stood out of Grand Harbour, Valetta, on 8 May 1921, bound for Egypt.

After provisioning at Port Said on 12 May, "Yacona" transited the Suez Canal the next day and proceeded to Aden arriving a week later, on 20 May. There, "Yacona" took on fresh water and coal, and sailed during the first watch the same day.  However, a board of investigation convened during the mid watch on 21 May determined that the quantity of coal she had received had proved to be of inferior quality, and she put back into Aden soon thereafter, where LT George M. Snead (SC), "Yacona"’s supply officer went ashore to confer with representatives of Cory Brothers. A representative of Cory Brothers visited the ship shortly after LT Snead returned, remaining  on board for only a quarter of an hour, long enough, apparently, to confirm the Americans’ complaint. She shifted berths the following day and a tug brought two lighters alongside for the laborious and dirty task of un-coaling ship, a process that lasted from the afternoon watch on 22 May to the forenoon watch the following day – the bad coal was later taken out to sea and dumped.

"Yacona" resumed her eastward voyage on 23 May and arrived at Bombay, India, on 1 June. There, she coaled and once again dressed-ship, this time for the King's Birthday on 3 June. The ship departed that port the next day. After calling at Colombo, Ceylon, from 9 to 24 June and at Singapore from 3 to 7 July, where she “full-dressed ship in honor of American independence” on 4 July, "Yacona" stood into Manila Bay on 14 July, assisted to her berth in Cavite harbor by the tug "Tamarao", her voyage from the eastern seaboard of the United States completed.

Shifting from Cavite to the Coast Guard Dock, Engineer Island, Manila, on the morning of 16 July 1921, "Yacona" was decommissioned on 27 July 1921 and turned over to representatives of the Insular Government.

References

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External links

* [http://aquariovgama.marinha.pt/AVGama/Site/PT/Museu/rei_dom_carlos/ Page of the Aquarium Vasco da Gama with photo of D. Carlos in Yacht Amélia]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-xz/sp617.htm US Navy page with photos of USS Yacona]
* [http://www.marinha.pt/extra/revista/ra_nov2003/pag_8.html Page with photos of the four yachts Amélia, including the Amélia III / Yancona]