USS ''Turquoise'' (PY-18), was a

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made 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 ...

in commission in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

as a Patrol Yacht from 1940 to 1943.

Construction, acquisition, and commissioning

''Ohio''-a diesel yacht built in 1922 at

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the List of c ...

, by the

Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the sole designer, builder, and refueler of aircraft carriers and one of two providers of submarines for the United States Navy. Founded as the Chesapeake Dry Dock ...

-was laid down on 1 August 1922; launched on 16 September 1922; and delivered exactly two months later to Edward Willis Scripps, the publisher of the

Scripps-Howard Newspapers The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglom ...

. After Scripps died on board the yacht on 12 March 1926, as she lay anchored in Monrovia Bay, Liberia, the yacht served a succession of owners under the names ''Maramichi'', ''Walucia III'', ''Kallisto'', and ''Entropy''. On 21 August 1940, as America girded for World War II, the United States Navy purchased ''Entropy'' from Robert V. G. Furman of

Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

, classified her a

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a type of small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. They encompass designs that are now largely obsolete, but which played an important role in the wars of the first half of th ...

, and designated her ''PC-459''. Since American submarine chasers were unnamed during World War II, the ship was known simply by her hull number, ''PC-459''. The luxury craft entered the Gibbs-Jacksonville Yard at

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, on 25 September 1940 for conversion for naval use. On 5 December 1940, ''PC-459'' was placed in commission at Jacksonville.

Service history

Following commissioning, ''PC-459'' put into

Charleston Navy Yard Charleston Naval Shipyard (formerly known as the Charleston Navy Yard) was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River (South Carolina), Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and p ...

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, on 9 December for fitting out. After spending the remainder of December 1940 and the better part of January 1941 in training exercises and shakedown, she got underway for Cuban waters in company with on 21 January. After a brief stay at Guantanamo Bay, ''PC-459'' set out on 30 January for Puerto Rico. Upon arrival at

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

on 1 February 1941, ''PC-459'' was reclassified a patrol yacht, designated PY-18, and named ''Turquoise''. Operating under the Commandant of the 10th Naval District, ''Turquoise'' patrolled

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

waters through July as the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

moved ever closer to neutral waters on the American coast. On 1 August, when the Navy commissioned the Naval Operating Base at Trinidad, British West Indies, the patrol yacht received orders to report there for duty as temporary station ship. She remained in the vicinity of Trinidad until early December, when she returned to Charleston for refit. On 7 December, the day after she entered the navy yard, the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

ese attacked Pearl Harbor. Four days later, on 11 December,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

declared war on the United States. Her refit shortened, ''Turquoise'' steamed back to Puerto Rico and arrived on 20 December. She operated in the Caribbean on local patrols into the early spring, when she returned to Charleston for availability. Upon the conclusion of the overhaul, she set out for San Juan on 9 April 1942. Upon arrival, she received orders to escort a YP and a

dredge Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing ...

to Trinidad and then to report to the Commandant of the Naval Operating Base there for orders. Besides inshore patrol duties out of Trinidad, she also escorted local convoys in the Caribbean area, called at such ports as Gonaives and

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

, Haiti, besides the already-frequented San Juan, Trinidad,

Key West, Florida Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Islan ...

, and Guantanamo Bay. But for occasional refits at Charleston, she continued such operations through most of 1943. In December 1943, she received orders to proceed to the

Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending on each side o ...

Transfer to the Ecuadorian Navy

Arriving on 24 December 1943, she was transferred under

lend-lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft) * 28 naval vessels: ** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign) * ...

to the

Ecuadorian Navy The Ecuadorian Navy () is an Ecuadorian entity responsible for the surveillance and protection of national maritime territory and has a personnel of 9,400 men to protect a coastline of 2,237 km which reaches far into the Pacific Ocean. The v ...

on 29 January 1944. The yacht operated under the Ecuadorian flag as ''Nueve de Octobre'' (9 October) through 1949. She was sold to the Ecuadorian government on 13 May 1949 and was struck from the Navy list on 7 June 1949. Renamed ''Esmeraldas'', after a port city in Ecuador, she served with the Ecuadorian Navy into 1953. Esmeraldas ran aground in the

Guayas River The Guayas River (Rio Guayas) is a major river in western Ecuador. It gives its name to the Guayas Province of Ecuador. Its total length, including the Daule River, is 389 km (241 mi). The Guayas River's drainage basin is 34,500 km2 (1 ...

, near

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

, and was declared a total loss on 9 September 1953. ''Turquoise'' did not receive any battle stars for her World War II service.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turquoise(PY-18) Patrol vessels of the United States Navy World War II patrol vessels of the United States Ships built in Newport News, Virginia 1922 ships