USS Opal

Last updated

Yacht Coronet (1928).jpg
USS Opal (PYc-8) as yacht Coronet (1928) prior to World War II
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Opal (PYc-8)
Namesake Opal
Builder Germania Werft
Launched1928 as Coronet
Acquired27 January 1941
Commissioned10 June 1941
DecommissionedSeptember 1943
Out of service1943. Transferred to Ecuador under Lend-Lease.
Stricken7 June 1949
FateSold to Ecuador 13 May 1949
History
Flag of Ecuador.svgEcuador
NameBAE Manabi
Namesake Manabí Province, Ecuador
Acquired13 May 1949
In service1943 under Lend-Lease
Stricken1960
Fate Scrapped in 1960.
General characteristics
Displacement590 tons
Length185 ft 6 in (56.54 m)
Beam27 ft (8.2 m)
Draft11 ft (3.4 m)
Propulsion2 diesel engines, 425 H.P. each
Speed13 knots
Complement50
ArmamentTwo 3" guns. Two depth charge tracks.

USS Opal (PYc-8), formerly the yacht named Coronet (1928), was a patrol boat in the United States Navy during World War II and then served in the Ecuadorian navy.

Contents

1928–1941: Yacht Coronet

Opal was originally designed by the naval architecture firm of Cox & Stevens [1] as the steel-hulled motor yacht Coronet for American businessman Irving T. Bush. It was built in 1928 at Kiel, Germany by Germania Werft. [2] This vessel was named after the smaller schooner yacht Coronet of 1885, built for Irving's father Rufus T. Bush and known for its victory in an 1887 transatlantic ocean race. The first Coronet was also the vessel upon which young Irving Bush and his family had sailed around the world in 1888. [3] [4] The new diesel-powered Coronet featured a library, a living room with an open fireplace, a dining room, six staterooms (each with its own bathroom), and space for a crew of 20. The yacht had a 7,000 mile range. [4]

During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Coronet served as a pleasure yacht, for example cruising around the Mediterranean Sea [5] and participating in New York Yacht Club activities on Long Island Sound. [6]

From 1931 through the end of the 1930s, Coronet stayed in south Florida, in and near Miami, maintained and ready for service, yet inactive. [7] In 1935, Bush transferred ownership of the yacht to his wife, Marian Spore Bush. As both husband and wife were officially residents of New York City, and the Coronet was registered in New York but kept in Florida, the yacht became the subject of a property taxation dispute, which was finally settled by the Florida Supreme Court in 1939. [7]

1941–1943: Coastal Patrol Yacht USS Opal

Coronet was purchased by the United States Navy from M.S. Bush on 27 January 1941 and converted for naval service at Merrill-Stevens Drydock Co. in Miami, Florida. It was commissioned Opal on 10 June 1941. [2]

Opal reported 23 August 1941 at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba for service in the 10th Naval District. The vessel patrolled off Cuba and among the Greater Antilles prior to arrival at Trinidad, 24 April 1942, for similar "inshore patrol" duties. Early in October 1941 it sailed to the Charleston Navy Yard for installation of new sound detection equipment before returning to action against German submarines in the Caribbean Sea. Opal frequently served on escort missions between Guantanamo and Trinidad during the first eight months of 1943. [2]

1943–1960: Ecuadorian Navy's Manabi

In 1943, the US Navy reassigned Opal to serve as a training ship for Ecuadorian naval crews. It was lent to Ecuador on 23 September 1943 under the Lend-Lease Program and renamed Manabi. The United States sold the vessel to Ecuador on 13 May 1949 and the US Navy struck its name from the Navy List on 7 June 1949. The Ecuadorian Navy scrapped the vessel in 1960. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Plymouth</i> (PG-57) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Plymouth (PG-57), a patrol gunboat, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Plymouth, Massachusetts, a town founded by the Pilgrims in 1620 on Plymouth Bay, about 35 miles southeast of Boston.

USS <i>Impetuous</i>

USS Impetuous (PYc-46) was a private yacht purchased by the Navy in August 1940 that served as a patrol boat of the United States Navy in Central America. The yacht was built as Paragon, the first of at least two Davol yachts to bear the name, in 1915 for Charles J. Davol of Providence, Rhode Island. In 1916 Davol sold the yacht to John Fred Betz, 3d of Philadelphia who renamed the yacht Sybilla III which served as the Section Patrol yacht USS Sybilla III (SP-104) from May 1917 to December 1918. Sybilla III remained in Betz's ownership until sale in 1935 to R. Livingston Sullivan of Philadelphia who renamed the yacht Arlis. On 12 August 1940 the Navy purchased the yacht placing it in commission as USS PC-454 on 16 October. The vessel was given the name Impetuous and reclassified PYc-46 on 15 July 1943. The yacht was decommissioned at Philadelphia 31 August 1944 and transferred to the War Shipping Administration for sale.

The third USS Emerald (PYC-1), was a yacht built in 1922 as Tamarack IV by the Consolidated Shipbuilding Company in Morris Heights, New York. She was acquired by the US Navy on 25 October 1940 and commissioned 27 December 1940.

USS Amethyst (PYc-3) was the yacht Samona II taken into service in the United States Navy serving as a patrol boat during World War II. After military service the vessel was returned to civilian status in 1946 and again became the yacht Samona II until sale and subsequent names of Pudlo and Explorer.

USS <i>Onyx</i> (PYc-5) Patrol vessel of the United States Navy

USS Onyx (PYc-5), was a diesel coastal patrol yacht of the United States Navy during World War II.

Word Manabí can refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irving T. Bush</span> American industrialist (1869–1948)

Irving Ter Bush was an American businessman. He was the son of the wealthy industrialist, oil refinery owner, and yachtsman Rufus T. Bush.

USS <i>Moonstone</i> Patrol vessel of the United States Navy

USS Moonstone (PYc-9) was a coastal patrol yacht in the service of the United States Navy. She was built in 1929 as Nancy Baker by Germaniawerft in Kiel, Germany, later renamed Mona, and subsequently acquired by the Navy as the Lone Star on 10 February 1941. Renamed Moonstone and designated PYc-9, she was converted for U.S. Navy service in Jacksonville, Florida, and commissioned on 10 April 1941. She was named for the gemstone moonstone.

USS Albatross (AMS-1/YMS-80) was an YMS-1-class auxiliary motor minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II for clearing coastal minefields.

Cox & Stevens began in 1905 as a yacht design and commercial brokerage in New York City. The original principal partners were Daniel H. Cox, Irving Cox, and marine engineer Colonel Edwin Augustus Stevens Jr., son of renowned designer Edwin Augustus Stevens.

<i>Coronet</i> (yacht) United States historic place

Coronet is a 131' wooden-hull schooner yacht built for oil tycoon Rufus T. Bush in 1885. It is one of the oldest and largest vessels of its type in the world, and one of the last grand sailing yachts of the 19th century extant. After numerous owners and decades of neglect, it underwent an extensive restoration at Newport, Rhode Island's, The International Yacht Restoration School beginning in 2010.

USS PC-568 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. The ship was later named USS Altus (PC-568) in honor of Altus, Oklahoma, but never saw any active service under that name. After she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in 1963, she was transferred to the United States Air Force.

USS Sardonyx (PYc-12), formerly the yacht named Queen Anne (1928), was a patrol boat in the United States Navy during World War II.

USS <i>Alabaster</i> US navy vessel

The USS Alabaster (PYc-21) was a coastal patrol yacht of the United States Navy during World War II.

USS <i>Valiant</i> (PYc-51) Patrol vessel of the United States Navy

USS Valiant (PYc-51), originally USS PC-509, was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1941 to 1944.

USS Garnet (PYc-15) was a coastal patrol yacht in the service of the United States Navy.

USS <i>Turquoise</i> Patrol vessel of the United States Navy

USS Turquoise (PY-18), was a yacht in commission in the United States Navy as a Patrol Yacht from 1940 to 1943.

USS Topaz (PYc-10) was a coastal patrol yacht in the service of the United States Navy. She was named for the gemstone Topaz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VPB-52</span> Military unit

VPB-52 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Torpedo Squadron 3D15 (VT-3D15) on 12 July 1928, redesignated Patrol Squadron 3-S (VP-3S) on 21 January 1931, redesignated Patrol Squadron 3 Base Force (VP-3F) on 17 July 1933, redesignated Patrol Squadron 3 (VP-3) on 1 October 1937, redesignated Patrol Squadron 32 (VP-32) on 1 July 1939, redesignated Patrol Squadron 52 (VP-52) on 1 July 1941, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 52 (VPB-52) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 7 April 1945.

USS Vagrant (PYc-30) was a yacht which served as a patrol craft in the United States Navy during World War II.

References

  1. ↑ "Cox & Stevens, Inc. Collection (Ships Plans Coll. 34)". Mystic Seaport Museum Library. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Opal". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships . U.S. Naval Historical Center . Retrieved 28 November 2008.
  3. ↑ "Prominent Citizens of New York: Rufus T. Bush" in the Magazine of Western History/National Magazine (Jan. 1891) 13 (3): 378, full text on Google Books
  4. 1 2 "Graces of Clipper in New Bush Yacht," New York Evening Post , 17 Oct. 1928
  5. ↑ "Olympic Arrives with Notable List ," New York Times , 19 Sep. 1928, pg. 24
  6. ↑ James Robbins, "Shawara is First in Race on Sound," New York Times, 30 Aug. 1930, pg. 10
  7. 1 2 "BUSH v. STATE EX REL. DADE COUNTY, 191 So. 515, 140 Fla. 277, 1939 Fla.SCt 591". Court Cases (1939 - 1969): Property Tax Oversight. State of Florida, Department of Revenue. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.