USS ''Zaca'' (IX-73) is a wooden-hulled, schooner-rigged

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 ...

with an auxiliary engine.

History

She was commissioned by the self proclaimed explorer, Charles Templeton Crocker, to a design of Garland Rotch, and built by Nunes Brothers Boat and Ways Co. as a vessel for sailing around the world with all the modern conveniences of the time. When his new boat was completed in 1930 at

Sausalito, California Sausalito ( Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's ...

, Crocker wasted no time in making full use of it, spending the 1930s sailing the Zaca around the world on various expeditions, primarily in the name of scientific discovery and on behalf of the

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

, where many of his records sit now. From the

Palmyra Atoll Palmyra Atoll (), also referred to as Palmyra Island, is one of the Northern Line Islands (southeast of Kingman Reef and north of Kiribati). It is located almost due south of the Hawaiian Islands, roughly one-third of the way between Hawaii a ...

to the Galapagos, Crocker collected and documented plant and animal life with a small crew of scientists and artists, including noted photographer and Japanese artist, Toshio Asaeda.

World War II

Due to the need for local patrol and rescue craft in the busy waters in the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

area 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the schooner was acquired by the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

from Templeton Crocker on 12 June 1942. Placed in service on 19 June 1942 and assigned to the Western Sea Frontier, ''Zaca'' was classified a miscellaneous auxiliary and designated ''IX-73''. She was the second ship of that name to serve in the US Navy, and operated as a plane-guard ship, standing ready to rescue the crews of any planes downed nearby. Eventually relieved by the frigates (PF's) of Escort Squadron 41, ''Zaca'' was placed out of service at Treasure Island, California on 6 October 1944; and her name was struck from the

Navy list A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval autho ...

on 13 November 1944.

Errol Flynn

Turned over to the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

on 21 May 1945, ''Zaca'' was acquired in 1946 by

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia ...

, an actor famed for his "swashbuckling" roles in numerous movies. ''Zaca'' is featured prominently in the 1947

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

film ''

The Lady from Shanghai ''The Lady from Shanghai'' is a 1947 American film noir directed by Orson Welles (uncredited) and starring Welles, his estranged wife Rita Hayworth, and Everett Sloane. It is based on the novel ''If I Die Before I Wake'' by Sherwood King. Altho ...

''. A documentary short film ''

Cruise Of The Zaca ''Cruise of the Zaca'' is a short documentary on 16mm about a trip taken by Errol Flynn in 1946 on his boat the '' Zaca'' to collect specimens with his father, Professor Theodore Thomson Flynn, an eminent marine biologist. The trip was done in as ...

'' which features Flynn and his father Theodore Thomson Flynn, an eminent marine biologist, collecting marine samples in the semi-tropics, was made in 1952 and has been shown on the

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...

TV channel. Flynn owned the yacht until his death in 1959.

Today

As of 2008, ''Zaca'' is privately owned by Roberto Memmo and berthed in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. A skipper and crew of four regularly sail ''Zaca'' to ports such as

Punta Ala Punta Ala (formerly Punta Troia) is a ''frazione'' of the town of Castiglione della Pescaia, in the province of Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy. The small town with a population of 402 people lies at the bottom of the northern hillsides of the promontory ...

, Gaeta, Capri, Cagliari, and throughout the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

. The ''Zaca'' is frequently seen at prestigious sailing races in the Mediterranean. Her winter port is in Port de Fontvieille, Monaco. In 2009, the Sailing Channel (now the

Nautical Channel In physical geography, a channel is a type of landform consisting of the outline of a path of relatively shallow and narrow body of water or of other fluids (e.g., lava), most commonly the confine of a river, river delta or strait. The word is c ...

) dedicated a program to the entire history of the ''Zaca'' from original construction to the present entitled "In the Wake of the ''Zaca''".

References

External links

* * * *
In the Wake of the Zaca
2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaca (IX-73) Unclassified miscellaneous vessels of the United States Navy Ships built in Sausalito, California 1930 ships