_in_1950.jpg) USSWilliamsburg in 1950 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Aras |
| Owner | Hugh J. Chisholm, Jr. |
| Builder | Bath Iron Works |
| Laid down | 19 March 1930 |
| Launched | 8 December 1930 |
| Acquired | 15 January 1931 |
| Fate | Acquired by theUS Navy, 24 April 1941 |
 United States | |
| Name | Williamsburg |
| Namesake | City ofWilliamsburg, Virginia |
| Acquired | 24 April 1941 |
| Commissioned | 7 October 1941 |
| Decommissioned | 30 June 1953 |
| Stricken | 1 April 1962 |
| Fate | Transferred toNational Science Foundation, 9 August 1962 |
| United States | |
| Name | Anton Bruun |
| Namesake | Anton Frederik Bruun |
| Operator | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
| Acquired | 9 August 1962 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics (in US Navy service) | |
| Displacement | 1,805long tons (1,834 t) full load |
| Length | 243 ft 9 in (74.30 m) |
| Beam | 36 ft (11 m) |
| Draft | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
| Installed power | 1,100 bhp (820 kW) |
| Propulsion | 2 ×Wintondiesel engines |
| Speed | 13.5 kn (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) |
| Complement | 81 |
| Armament |
|
USSWilliamsburg was a US Navygunboat. A former privateyacht, it also served as apresidential yacht from 1945 to 1953.
The steel-hulled, diesel-powered yachtAras was laid down on 19 March 1930 by theBath Iron Works; launched on 8 December 1930, and delivered to wood-pulp magnate Hugh J. Chisholm, Jr., on 15 January 1931, who named it for his wife, the former Sara Hardenbergh.
Aras displaced 1,805long tons (1,834 t) fully loaded; with a length of 243 ft 9 in (74.30 m); a beam of 36 ft (11 m); and a draft of 14 ft (4.3 m). Her twoWintondiesel engines generated 1,100 bhp (820 kW), with a speed of 13.5 kn (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph).
The US Navy acquiredAras on 24 April 1941 and renamed herWilliamsburg. The former pleasure craft entered the Brewer Drydock and Repair Co., ofBrooklyn,New York, on 23 June, for conversion into agunboat.
Williamsburg (PG-56) was commissioned at theNew York Navy Yard, on 7 October 1941.Williamsburg was ordered to theNorfolk Navy Yard to complete fitting-out, arriving on 5 November.
As a gunboat,Williamsburg was armed with two3-inch (76 mm)/50 caliber gun mounts, six.50 in (12.7 mm) caliber Browning machine guns, two.30 in (7.62 mm) caliber Lewis machine guns, twodepth charge tracks, one Y-gun depth charge projector, 16 rifles, and 10 pistols. Her crew complement was 81.
After final alterations, the gunboat departedNorfolk on 2 December, touched briefly atWashington, D.C., and eventually arrived atHalifax, Nova Scotia, on 6 December, the day before the Japaneseattacked Pearl Harbor.
Williamsburg departed Halifax, on 8 December, bound forIceland; viaHvalfjörður; and reachedReykjavík, later in December 1941. She arrived when the newly established Naval Operating Base (NOB), Iceland, encountered difficulties.Rear AdmiralJames L. Kauffman, the first commandant of NOB Iceland, had arrived in Reykjavík in the battleshipArkansas shortly after the United States entered the war. He found that no quarters existed ashore for himself or his staff. Moreover, while tentative arrangements had been made to assign a station ship to Reykjavík, the congestion of shipping there and the shortage of space made a permanently pier-moored ship impossible. Therefore, it was necessary to have a ship that could be anchored clear of the docks. The problem was solved when Admiral Kauffman transferred his flag fromArkansas toWilliamsburg at Hvalfjörður on 23 December. Since the Army's Port Authority in Iceland was also in need of headquarters at that time, its commanding officer and his staff were also accommodated inWilliamsburg.
Rear Admiral Kauffman flew his flag inWilliamsburg until the spring of 1942. By then, the ship had been moored alongside the main quay at Reykjavík. She provided Kauffman with a headquarters and served as quarters for the communications personnel and the admiral's staff. When Camp Knox – the naval facility on Iceland – was completed in mid-May, Kauffman hauled down his flag and moved ashore to releaseWilliamsburg for other duties.
The gunboat got underway on 18 May, with a party of Army officers embarked, for an inspection tour of the island of Iceland. Led byMajor GeneralCharles H. Bonesteel, the party inspected bases atAkureyri,Dalvík,Búðareyri, andReyðarfjörður. While making the cruise, the ship escorted the British troop and supply vessel SSLochnagar to these ports. With the inspection trip completed by the end of May,Williamsburg put to sea to contact the disabled merchantman SSGemini, reportedly suffering from a damaged propeller and under tow by the British tugJaunty.
Assisted by aPBY, the gunboat searched forGemini andJaunty. Escorted byUSCGC Duane (WPG-33) andBabbitt, the tug and merchantman finally hove into sight on 1 June; andWilliamsburg fell in as additional escort to Reykjavik. Shifting toHvalfjörður on 4 June, the gunboat underwent tender repairs alongsideMelville into the middle of the month. Returning to Reykjavik, soon thereafter,Williamsburg escortedPegasus on a coastwise supply mission toAkureyri. While en route, a PBY provided air coverage; the gunboat sank a driftingmine with machine gun fire. She returned to Reykjavík on 20 June.
After transporting a party of Army officers and nurses to Hvalfjörður and back to Reykjavík for an inspection trip and a visit to the battleshipWashington,Williamsburg operated on local patrol and convoy escort during July 1942. On 12 July, in the midst of one such mission escorting theliberty shipSS Richard Henry Lee,Williamsburg took on board 28 sealed boxes ofgold bullion – valued at approximately $1,500,000 – atSeyðisfjörður, and transported it to Reykjavík, where she turned it over toWashington.Williamsburg was then berthed alongsideMelville for tender repairs from 14 to 16 July.
Williamsburg next steamed on Weather Station Patrol "Baker" from 18 to 20 July, and towed two buoys from Reykjavík to Hvalfjörður before returning to her home port on 22 July, remaining there until the end of the month.
Williamsburg again served as a VIP transport the following month, taking aUSO troupe to Hvalfjörður, where the entertainers put on two shows on 2 August. Eight days later, the converted yacht got underway forDerry, Northern Ireland, for emergency repairs. Underway on 10 August, she joined theRoyal NavytrawlersHMT Paynter,HMT Bredon (T223), andHMS Blackfly (FY 117) in escortingConvoy RU-35 consisting of nine merchantmen. Detached atThe Minches on 14 August,Williamsburg proceeded independently through theIrish Sea, and arrived at Derry, later that day. She was then drydocked from mid-August into the second week of September.
Her repairs were completed on 10 September, and the gunboat conducted antisubmarine practices in company with a British submarine on 13 and 14 September before getting underway on 15 September for Iceland. Proceeding again independently, she battled her way through a gale that sprung both depth charge tracks and tumbled three depth charges into the sea as she rolled and pitched violently in the storm's fury. While en route, she received dispatch orders to rendezvous with the merchant vesselMedina and screen her atHöfn, during the cargoman's unloading. The gunboat proceeded ahead without sonar (it had developed a casualty en route) and with both depth charge tracks badly sprung. Having no radar, she experienced difficulty finding her charge before she finally made contact withMedina at Berusford, on 18 September. Both ships started forReykjanes, soon after that.
Detached from escortingMedina on 19 September,Williamsburg rendezvoused withUranus and relievedLeary as escort the same day. She convoyed the stores ship to Búðareyri, whereUranus delivered supplies to the Army base there. Underway for Seyðisfjörður, on 22 September,Williamsburg spotted an unidentified four-engined bomber overhead at 08:30 but, due to the mist and rain, could not identify the plane. Word soon came, however, that the plane was indeed an enemy - possibly aFocke-Wulf Fw 200Condor used for anti-shipping and reconnaissance missions by theLuftwaffe. The plane approached again at 09:45 and once more failed to identify itself.Williamsburg crewed hergeneral quarters stations but lost the plane in the swirling mist and fog. The enemy aircraft never came within the gunboat's range.
At Seyðisfjörður, on 24 September,Williamsburg took on board 15 survivors from the merchantmen SSWilham Hooper andSS Daniel Morgan, both sunk during the ordeal ofConvoy PQ 17 at the hands of German planes and submarines. While en route to Reykjavík, with these mariners, the gunboat sighted twodrifters well inside the fjord atAðalvík and moved closer for a better look. After investigation,Williamsburg continued on her way, having found only two Icelandicfishing trawlers. She arrived in Reykjavík on 29 September.
Shifting to Hvalfjörður on 30 September,Williamsburg underwent repairs alongsideMelville from 30 September to 3 October, at last receiving repairs to her damaged depth charge tracks. The gunboat subsequently escorted SSLochnagar on revictualling missions to Búðareyri, Seyðisfjörður, and Akureyri, before she returned to Reykjavík, later in the month.
Following further coastwise convoy escort runs in November and December,Williamsburg underwent a tender overhaul and availability alongsideVulcan through Christmas of 1942.
Upon completing these alterations and repairs on 3 January 1943,Williamsburg resumed her coastwise convoy escort duties and continued the task through January 1943. After getting underway for New York Harbor, on 7 February, the gunboat touched atSt. John's, Newfoundland, en route and was briefly diverted toArgentia, to escortPontiac.Williamsburg eventually arrived at theBethlehem Steel docks atHoboken, New Jersey, on 22 February, to receive an overhaul.
After a month of repairs and alterations,Williamsburg sailed for Norfolk, where, after her arrival on 31 March, she soon became theflagship for Rear AdmiralDonald B. Beary, Commander, Fleet Operational Training Command, Atlantic Fleet.
Over the next two years,Williamsburg operated primarily in theHampton Roads-Chesapeake Bay region, occasionally deploying toNewport, Rhode Island,New York,Florida waters, orGuantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Williamsburg came under the aegis of Commander, Service Force,Atlantic Fleet, on 16 June 1945. On 10 July, she entered the Norfolk Navy Yard for conversion to an amphibious force flagship (AGC). The need for such specialized craft had been realized in the Pacific; with the war with Japan not yet over,Williamsburg was selected for the metamorphosis. The end of the war with Japan – hastened by theatomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – resulted in further work being canceled. Instead,Williamsburg's new employment was to be that of presidential yacht, to replacePotomac, the former Coast Guard cutter and a long-time favorite of the latePresident Roosevelt.
Williamsburg remained at Norfolk into November, undergoing conversion. The ship then sailed for theWashington Navy Yard, where, on 5 November 1945, she relievedPotomac as a presidential yacht and, on 10 November 1945, the erstwhile gunboat was re-designated AGC-369.
In the ensuing years,Williamsburg served two presidents,Harry S. Truman andDwight D. Eisenhower.
During President Truman's tenure, she embarked such American and foreign notables as Secretary of StateGeorge Marshall, PresidentMiguel Alemán of Mexico; and two successive British prime ministers,Winston Churchill andClement Attlee. During the ship's first tour as a presidential yacht, she cruised thePotomac River andChesapeake Bay regions, while occasionally venturing into the open sea for cruises to Florida,Bermuda, Cuba, and theVirgin Islands.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower made only one cruise inWilliamsburg before ordering her decommissioned. He came on board at Washington, on 14 May 1953, and cruised toYorktown, Virginia, where he disembarked to visit the ship's namesake, the colonial city of Williamsburg. Re-embarking the Chief Executive at Yorktown later that day,Williamsburg touched at Norfolk, andAnnapolis, Maryland, before she returned to the Washington Navy Yard to disembark the President on 18 May.
That proved to beWilliamsburg's last cruise as a presidential yacht because President Eisenhower directed that the ship be placed out of commission. Accordingly, she was decommissioned at the Washington Navy Yard on 30 June 1953 and turned over to the Potomac River Naval Command for maintenance and preservation. Subsequently, she shifted to Newport, Rhode Island, and she remained in "special status" from about 2 April 1959.Williamsburg was struck from the Navy list on 1 April 1962.
Williamsburg was transferred to theNational Science Foundation on 9 August 1962, undergoing a change from a presidential yacht to an oceanographic research vessel at theWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution. During the overhaul, the presidential staterooms and other yacht-like trappings were removed, and special facilities were installed. Among the modifications was a seawater aquarium for preserving live specimens and a lab equipped with microscopes and other instruments for examining and classifying samples of marine life. Two winches and a small crane were fitted for dredging and deep sea work, while a small side deck platform was added to permit long-line fishing. The ship's engines, too, were reconditioned, and her bilge keels were modified to make the ship more stable.
RenamedAnton Bruun, in honor of thenoted Danish marine biologist, the ship made ten scientific cruises in theIndian Ocean, conducting broad sample studies of bottom, midwater, and surface life. She caught specimens ofplankton; did long-line fishing and trawling in deep water; conducted meteorological observations; and periodically obtained water samples. A multinational assemblage of scientists from the United States, India, Thailand, Brazil, and Pakistan worked on board the ship during this cruise.
Upon the conclusion of theIndian Ocean expedition,Anton Bruun returned to the United States in February 1965. Eight months later, she sailed for thePacific Ocean to make a series of eight cruises in the Southeastern Pacific Oceanographic Program, conducting biological research in the area of theHumboldt Current and the other regions of the southeastern Pacific.Anton Bruun subsequently continued her oceanographic voyages until 1968.
During that year, while laid up for repairs in a floating drydock, the ship suffered extensive damage when the drydock sank unexpectedly.Anton Bruun was slated to be transferred to the Indian government. Restoration, given the apparent damage suffered in the drydock mishap, appeared uneconomical.[1]
Offered for sale by theMaritime Administration, the former gunboat, presidential yacht, and oceanographic vessel was acquired by a commercial concern whose intention was to use the ship as a combination floating hotel-restaurant-museum to be permanently berthed in Pennsville Township on the Salem River, in New Jersey.
TheWilliamsburg was towed up the Salem River, where she was placed in a berth originally meant to accommodate a dredge at the former Bright's Marina, renamed the Marlboro Marina. The shallow water depth resulted in the ship firmly grounded in the mud. There the yacht remained in the southern end ofPennsville Township, in Salem County, New Jersey, and for several years after that as a restaurant before being sold to new owners.[citation needed]
In 1993, the formerWilliamsburg was transferred toGenoa, Italy, for conversion into a luxury cruise ship. These plans were never realized, and the former yacht faced imminent scrapping atLa Spezia, Italy, but an urgent appeal to the Italian government saved her. The "USS Williamsburg Preservation Society" was formed to returnWilliamsburg to the United States for restoration and preservation.[2] Two former White House staffers began a Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds to restore the "Williamsburg" and return her to the U.S. Navy for use by future Presidents; however, the campaign failed to raise the goal of $40 million.[3]
Williamsburg was laid up at the Navy wharf in La Spezia, Italy while offered for sale by Camper & Nicholsons International ofMonaco.[4]
The ship sank at her moorings, in La Spezia harbor, in 2015.[5]
On 19 January 2016, the Port Authority of La Spezia authorised the operation for the removal of the ship.[6] Her wreck was scrapped in situ in March.[7]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.44°05′06″N9°52′47″E / 44.08500°N 9.87972°E /44.08500; 9.87972