USS Mizpah (PY-29)

The USS Mizpah (PY-29) was a United States Navy vessel.

History

This convert|185|ft|m|sing=on ship was laid down in 1926 from the parts of an abandoned new destroyer as the pleasure yacht "Savarona" by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation of Newport News, Virginia, for Mrs. Richard M. Cadwalader of Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. It was acquired in 1927 by Mrs. Cadwalader’s son, Mr. Richard M. Cadwalader, Jr., also of Fort Washington, and renamed the "Sequoia". In 1929 it was sold to Eugene F. McDonald of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founder and president of the Zenith Radio Corporation, who renamed it the "Allegro" and used it both as a Chicago residence and a floating laboratory on which to test the electronics company’s new products. One of the largest yachts on the Great Lakes in its heyday, the ship was renamed the "Mizpah" in 1929.

Only a year after commissioning the construction of the "Mizpah", the Cadwaladers built a smaller ship, the "USS Sequoia II", a 104-foot pleasure yacht that was subsequently purchased by the U. S. government and named the USS Sequoia for use by U.S. presidents. Numerous significant historical events took place on the "Sequoia" between the administrations of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and that of President Ronald Reagan.

Acquisition and conversion by the U.S. Navy

The "Mizpah" was acquired by the U.S. Navy on 16 March 1942 and converted to a warship at Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, with Lt. S. M. Etnier, USNR, in command. It was commissioned the "Patrol Yacht USS Mizpah (PY-29)" on 26 October 1942. After leaving Sturgeon Bay on 16 November 1942, "Mizpah" served as a convoy escort along the eastern coast of the U.S., sailing between New York City and Key West, Florida, until July 1944. In this way "Mizpah" made a contribution to the war effort by freeing larger, more heavily armed escorts to protect transatlantic shipping lanes.

erves as training school

From August 1944 until April 1945, "Mizpah" served as a navigation school ship from the Amphibious Training Base at Little Creek, Virginia, training prospective ship captains and executive officers to sail newly constructed, amphibious vessels in the Chesapeake Bay region.

Conversion to flagship, Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet

Converted at Boston, Massachusetts, for duty as a flagship, Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet, "Mizpah" broke the flag of Rear Admiral O. M. Hustvedt at Portland, Maine, on 28 May 1945. Hustvedt was succeeded by Rear Admiral Frank E. Beatty on 4 September 1945.

Decommissioning

"Mizpah" arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, with Admiral Beatty on 10 December 1945 under the command of Lt. (j.g.) D. Dudley Bloom. It was decommissioned on 16 January 1946 and transferred to the U. S. War Shipping Administration (WSA) on 25 September 1946 for disposal.

Final years

The WSA then sold her to a private corporation for transporting bananas out of South America until it suffered a broken crankshaft in 1967 and was laid up for repair at Tampa, Florida. At that time, Eugene Kinney, McDonald’s nephew and Zenith Corporation vice president, learned of her plight and purchased her. But seeing Mizpah in such disrepair was disheartening,and Kinney scuttled her off the coast of Palm Beach, Florida, on 9 April 1968 along with the "USS PC-1174", where today she serves as an artificial reef to prevent beach erosion and as a SCUBA diver's paradise.

ources

* Naval Historical Center, Washington, D.C.
*"The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships"
* [http://www.navsource.org] Photo Archive
*"Motor Boating", August 1968, page 65
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Sequoia_(presidential_yacht)]