USS Argus (PY-14), at sea, circa 1944/1945.
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Haida |
Namesake | Haida people |
Builder | Germaniawerft, Kiel |
Completed | 1929 |
Fate | Acquired by the Navy, 25 October 1940 |
United States | |
Name | Argus |
Namesake | Argus Panoptes |
Acquired | 25 October 1940 |
Commissioned | 13 February 1941 |
Decommissioned | 15 April 1946 |
Stricken | 21 May 1946 |
Identification |
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Fate |
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Pioneer
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United States | |
Name | Pioneer |
Operator | United States Coast and Geodetic Survey |
In service | 17 September 1941 |
Out of service | 16 March 1942 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Yacht |
Displacement | 859 long tons (873 t) |
Length | 207 ft 6 in (63.25 m) |
Beam | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
Draft | 13 ft 5 in (4.09 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 2 × screws |
Speed | 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph) |
Complement | 59 |
Armament |
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The American motor yacht Haida was built in Germany in 1929 for Max C. Fleischmann and later saw service in the United States Navy during World War II as patrol yacht USS Argus (PY-14) and USC&GS Pioneer. In 1946 she returned to her role as a private yacht under a sequence of names and owners, and after a further refit in 2016 is now Haida 1929.
The motor yacht Haida was built in 1929 at Kiel, Germany by Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft for Max C. Fleischmann of Santa Barbara, California, the younger son of Charles Fleischmann, founder of the eponymous yeast company of Cincinnati.[1] When his brother Julius died suddenly in 1925, Max assumed management control of the company but did not wish to move from California and his other interests, including yachting, so stood down from that role in 1929.[2] Like several others over the years, the yacht was named for the Haida people, indigenous to Haida Gwaii islands, whose skills as seafarers impressed Fleischmann greatly.[3]
Haida was designed by the eminent New York firm of Cox & Stevens and her keel was laid in 1927.[1] The yacht has a length overall of 66.7 m (218 ft 10 in) and length between perpendiculars of 63.1 m (207 ft 0 in), a beam of 9.1 m (29 ft 10 in), a depth of 5.3 m (17 ft 5 in) and a draft of 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in). She measured 693 GRT.[4] Haida is still powered by her original pair of diesel engines, also made by Krupp, totalling 1,500 hp (1,100 kW), driving twin propellers and giving her a speed of 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph).[5][6] Unusually, Fleischmann chose to have the yacht painted black.[3][7]
Following completion at Kiel, Haida was delivered, via New York and the Panama Canal to California and her berth at the Santa Barbara Yacht Club (Fleischman had donated over half of the cost of the construction of a breakwater at Santa Barbara).[2][3] During the following decade the owner cruised extensively in West Coast waters, from Alaska to Mexico, following his interests in marine science and fishing.[3]
The Coast and Geodetic Survey modified her for her new role, renamed her Pioneer (their second of that name), and placed her in service on 17 September 1941. Pioneer was able to accomplish little survey work before the entry of the United States into World War II led to her return to the U.S. Navy on 16 March 1942 under Executive Order 9072 of 24 February 1942.[8]
The yacht was sold in late 1946 to Egyptian cotton magnate Maurice Ada (or Adda) and renamed Sarina. Now painted in traditional white, she was based at the Alexandria Yacht Club. A close friend of King Farouk, when he was deposed and exiled in 1952 the yacht was moved to Cannes, France.[3][7]
In the late 1960s Sarina was briefly owned by Larry Green, an American businessman involved in the motor trade, and was then sold to former British Member of Parliament Loel Guinness in 1969.[3] His membership of the Royal Yacht Squadron entitled the yacht to fly the White ensign when he was aboard. Guinness owned her a decade, systematically restoring and enhancing her each winter, while cruising in the Mediterranean in the summers.[7] In 1979 in declining health he sold Sarina to the Australian music entrepreneur and film producer Robert Stigwood. He installed satellite communications, concealing the dome in a new additional false funnel. After two years, after extensive cruising throughout Europe and the Caribbean, Stigwood sold Sarina (without the dummy funnel) to a British-resident American art collector, Stanley J. Seeger, who renamed her Rosenkavalier.[3][7]
In 1988 Rosenkavalier was sold to the three brothers Hiroshi, Takashi and Yasushi Isaka, owners of a property development company in Yokohama, Japan. She received a major refit in Thailand during 1991 and was sold the following year to Greek-Cypriot, Andreas Liveras, already established in the yacht charter business.[1][7] A Swiss-based businessman bought the yacht in 1999, renamed her Haida G, and set about another major restoration in France and Turkey, including a complete refit of the original Krupp diesel engines.[3][7]
In 2011 Haida G was again sold and renamed Dona Amelia. She received a further extensive refit at Pendennis Shipyard in Falmouth, Cornwall in 2016/2017, after which she was renamed Haida 1929 by her new owner. Her tonnage is assessed as 720 GT and 216 NT.[9]