''Sea Cloud'' is a sailing cruise ship owned by

Sea Cloud Cruises The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. Launched as a private

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

as ''Hussar V'' for Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1931, she later served as a

weather ship A weather ship, or ocean station vessel, was a ship stationed in the ocean for surface and upper air meteorological observations for use in weather forecasting. They were primarily located in the north Atlantic and north Pacific oceans, reportin ...

for the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...

and

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, when she became the U.S. military's first racially integrated

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster ...

since the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. After the war, ''Sea Cloud'' was returned to private ownership, serving as a yacht for numerous people, including as presidential yacht of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. Since 1979, ''Sea Cloud'' has been used as a cruise ship.

Private yacht ''Hussar V''

''Sea Cloud'' was built in

Kiel, Germany Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland p ...

, as a barque for Marjorie Merriweather Post and her second husband Edward F. Hutton of Wall Street's E. F. Hutton & Co. The yacht interiors and features were personally designed by Post, who took a course in marine engineering, and had full size interior mocks-ups done in a New York warehouse. She was launched in 1931 as ''Hussar V'' as a replacement for the '' Hussar IV.'' At the time of her construction, she was the largest private yacht in the world. The maiden voyage was in November 1931, from the shipyard in Germany to

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

, where the ship was received by Hutton and Post on November 30, 1931.

''Sea Cloud'' and "Floating Embassy"

In 1935, the United States Ambassador to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

Joseph E. Davies Joseph Edward Davies (November 29, 1876 – May 9, 1958) was an American lawyer and diplomat. He was appointed by President Wilson to be Commissioner of Corporations in 1912, and First Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission in 1915. He was t ...

, 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. Those Davies entertained on the ship included Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. Soviet and United States officials stayed and met on the vessel.

Coast Guard service

When Mrs. Davies first offered the ship to the

U.S. Department of the Navy The United States Department of the Navy (DoN) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary of ...

in 1941, the Navy turned her down. President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

objected to the ship entering service, remarking that the ship was too beautiful to be sacrificed. On January 7, 1942, the Navy reassessed its position and chartered 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 the 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 The Eastern Sea Frontier (EASTSEAFRON) was a United States Navy operational command during World War II, that was responsible for the coastal waters from Canada to Jacksonville, Florida, extending out for a nominal distance of two hundred miles ...

, with a permanent home port in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. During 1942, ''Sea Cloud'' mostly served as a

at Weather Patrol Station Number Two (position ). On June 6, 1942, the ship rescued eight survivors from the

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...

''Maria da Gloria''. On August 3, 1942 and August 4, 1942, ''Sea Cloud'' served at Weather Patrol Station Number One while was converted to a weather ship.

Naval 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

commissioned ''Sea Cloud'' as USS ''Sea Cloud'' (IX-99), though she maintained a Coast Guard crew. She was assigned to Task Force 24. Relieving in February 1944, ''Sea Cloud'' patrolled a area near the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

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 , bearing 350° at .

General quarters General quarters, battle stations, or action stations is an announcement made aboard a naval warship to signal that all hands (everyone available) aboard a ship must go to battle stations (the positions they are to assume when the vessel is ...

were sounded and battle stations manned, but contact was lost ten minutes later. The target was identified as a

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

, 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 Argentia ( ) is a Canadian commercial seaport and industrial park located in the Town of Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador. It is situated on the southwest coast of the Avalon Peninsula and defined by a triangular shaped headland which re ...

, 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 The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...

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 The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succ ...

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 The American Campaign Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had perfo ...

and the

World War Two Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal is a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. The Wor ...

Racial integration

In late 1944,

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

Carlton Skinner took command of the ship, after previously serving as executive officer in November 1944. At that time, black seamen were only permitted to serve as ship stewards. After witnessing a black man save the crew of yet still be denied promotion because of the rule, Skinner proposed an experiment. Skinner submitted his plan to the U.S. Secretary of the Navy and was allowed to sail his first weather patrol with a fully integrated crew. Within a few months, fifty black sailors, including two officers, were stationed aboard ''Sea Cloud''. Skinner requested that the experiment not be publicized and the ship not be treated differently from other ships in the task force. Skinner showed that his integrated crew could work just as efficiently as a segregated crew, if not more so, when his crew passed two fleet inspections with no deficiencies. Under Skinner's command when the ship was integrated, American painter

Jacob Lawrence Jacob Armstead Lawrence (September 7, 1917 – June 9, 2000) was an American painter known for his portrayal of African-American historical subjects and contemporary life. Lawrence referred to his style as "dynamic cubism", although by his own ac ...

served on the ''Sea Cloud''. He was able to paint and sketch while in the Coast Guard, notably his ''War Series''.

Return to civilian service

Following her return, ''Sea Cloud'' received a reassembled

rigging Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support a sailing ship or sail boat's masts—''standing rigging'', including shrouds and stays—and which adjust the position of the vessel's sails and spars to which they ar ...

in 1947, and a new set of twenty-nine sails in 1949. The vessel was painted white, and a gold eagle painted on the bow. The ship's reconstruction took nearly four years. Post retained ownership of ''Sea Cloud'' in the aftermath of her divorce from Mr. Davies, since she had originally brought the ship into the marriage. After evaluating the cost of running a year-round crew of seventy-two, Post decided to sell the ship. In the beginning ''Sea Cloud'' featured royal-sails over single topgallant- and double top-sails on the fore and mizzen masts. The main mast was equipped with a royal-sail over double topgallant- and double top-sails. Today the first three masts are rigged with double top-sails, single topgallants, royals and a main skysail.

Presidential yacht ''Angelita''

Rafael Trujillo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( , ; 24 October 189130 May 1961), nicknamed ''El Jefe'' (, "The Chief" or "The Boss"), was a Dominican dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. He ser ...

, ruler of the

, purchased ''Sea Cloud'' in 1955, trading a secondhand

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Vi ...

airliner in return. He renamed the ship ''Angelita'' after his daughter

Angelita Trujillo María de los Ángeles del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Trujillo Martínez (born 10 June 1939, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Grand Paris, France), known as Angelita Trujillo, is a Dominican writer. She is most known by her role as the predilect daughter ...

. The yacht served as a houseboat and government office. Following Trujillo's assassination on May 30, 1961, his family attempted to smuggle themselves and Trujillo's body to the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...

aboard ''Angelita'', but were forced back by the Dominican Republic's new government.

School ship ''Patria''

Five years after Trujillo's death, the ship, now named ''Patria'', was sold to Operation Sea Cruises, Inc. in 1966. Company president John Blue registered her in Panama and sent her to

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, to recondition and outfit her for charters. Sold to Antarna Inc., Miami, in 1969 the ship was renamed ''Antarna''. Blue brought the vessel to the United States, but port authorities docked the boat after a dispute in

Colón, Panama Colón () is a city and seaport in Panama, beside the Caribbean Sea, lying near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is the capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's second city. Originally it was ...

. Charles and Stephanie Gallagher paid the fees to get the ship free and set her to sea, even though Blue still held the ship's papers. The two dreamed of making the ship an "oceanic school" where students would supplement their traditional learning with at-sea education. Blue eventually retrieved his ship after a confrontation in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

Cruise ship ''Sea Cloud''

After the ship stayed in port for eight years, Hartmut Paschburg and a group of

associates purchased her, once again naming her ''Sea Cloud''. Paschburg and thirty-eight other men sailed the ship to Europe, arriving in the

Port of Hamburg The Port of Hamburg (german: Hamburger Hafen, ) is a seaport on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, from its mouth on the North Sea. Known as Germany's "Gateway to the World" (''Tor zur Welt''), it is the country's largest seaport by volume ...

on November 15, 1978. ''Sea Cloud'' spent eight months undergoing repairs in the now-named

Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (often abbreviated HDW) is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Kiel. It is part of the ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) group, owned by ThyssenKrupp. The Howaldtswerke shipyard was founded in Kiel in ...

shipyard, the very yard she was built in. She was redesigned with a sixty-four passenger capacity for a crew of sixty. The ship set sail on her first cruise in 1979, and has since been described by the ''Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships'' as "the most romantic sailing ship afloat". In 2011, the ''Sea Cloud'' underwent extensive renovations at the MWB-Werft, Bremerhaven. She is still operating as a cruise ship.

Gallery

File:Sea Cloud Cabin 1.jpg, Marjorie Merriweather Post Cabin 1 File:Sea Cloud cabin.jpg, E.F. Hutton Cabin 2 File:Carlton Skinner on Sea Cloud.jpg, LT Carlton Skinner with several of his black crewmembers on ''Sea Cloud'' File:Sea Cloud.jpg, ''Sea Cloud'' with masts removed and camouflaged in grey for Coast Guard service File:Sea Cloud eagle.jpg, Eagle Figurehead File:Sea cloud bridge.jpg, Wheelhouse with U.S. Naval service commendation File:Sea Cloud (ship, 1931) IMO 8843446, in Split, on 2011-09-30, bow.jpgMoored in

Split, Croatia )'' , settlement_type = City , anthem = ''Marjane, Marjane'' , image_skyline = , imagesize = 267px , image_caption = Top: Nighttime view of Split from Mosor; 2nd row: Cathedra ...

, in 2011

References

External links

Official website of Sea Cloud Cruises, the current operator of the ship

''Sea Cloud'' at Ship Spotting World
including additional photography and videos
Numerous video clips of ''Sea Cloud''

"Full sail in the Med on a grand old tall ship"
- review in ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' of a cruise on the ''Sea Cloud''.
''"Sea Cloud"''
– review by Douglas Ward in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', London.
"Sea Cloud: The Ship is the Destination"
– review in ''TravelLady Magazine''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sea Cloud Ships built in Kiel 1931 ships Sailing yachts built in Germany Ships of the United States Coast Guard World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Patrol vessels of the United States Navy Barques Weather ships African-American history of the United States military Tall ships of the Dominican Republic Royal and presidential yachts New York Yacht Club Yachts of New York Yacht Club members