marble fireplaces, and intricately carved wooden moldings . The magnifice nt dining room was o utfi tted wi th a m assive medi eval table and Queen Anne walnut chairs; the salon featured a classical piano fo r entertaining, and a separate sm oking cabin was built on deck for the gentlemen passe ngers. M arjo rie's personal stateroom was decorated in her favorite Lo uis XVI sryle and included a coalburning fireplace, a Victorian-sryle bed and gold-plated water raps. The Huttons first laid eyes on their new yacht in Bermuda on 30 N ovember 193 1, and they fo rmally accepted delivery at the N ew York Yacht C lub on 11 D ecember. The total cost of the yacht has been variously estimated at berween $1 and $3.5 million . The Hutton family spent about nine months a year cruising o n their new yacht to destinations such as the Caribbean , the South Pacific, the Galapagos and Alaska. They also sailed to Europe, where they entertained such dignitari es as King H aako n and Queen M aud of N orway and Sweden's monarch, King Gustav. D espite the appearance of a carefree existence at sea touring the wo rld, their marriage deteriorated and the couple divorced on 23 August 193 5. Ed Hutton transferred ownership of the yacht to M arjorie Post, who soon had the yacht registered under the new nam e of Sea Cloud. Marjorie did not rem ain single long. On 15 D ecember 1935 she married Joseph E. D avies, an international lawyer and D emocratic operati ve with extensive political contacts. Marj o rie made a very generous contributi o n to President Roosevelt's 1936 reelection campaign, and the Preside"n t subsequently offered D avies the ambassadorship to the Soviet Unio n, which he ass umed in November 1936. Before leaving for du ry, M r. and M rs. D avies honeymooned aboard Sea Cloud. During this cruise they visited Davies's legal client and fri end , th e dictator Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic. Sea Cloud was soon ordered to the Soviet Union , where she served as a fl oating (and bug-proof) embassy. She arrived in July 1937 and alternated between the Baltic po rt of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and the Black Sea port of O dessa. During this period the yacht made occasio nal cruises into European wa ters,
Both a square-rigger and a luxury yacht. Sea C loud s main deck left ample room for both chaise chairs and for the crew to handle lines at the pin rail.
•
L
SEA HISTORY 131 , SUMMER 2010
Hussar V under foll sail with a fresh breeze on her starboard quarter, 193 1. entertaining dignitaries and diplomats and also returning with provisions to re-supply the embassy at Spasso House in Moscow. In June 1938, on the eve of Wo rld War II, Ambassado r D avies was transferred to Brussels, and Sea Cloud sailed from Odessa carrying Mr. and Mrs. D avies and an extensive collection of Russian imperial art treasures that M arjori e had acquired during th eir two years in the Soviet Unio n. After th eir arrival in Belgium, the yacht was repainted from black to whi re to avoid being mistake n fo r a warship . M arjo rie considered selling rhe ship in 194 1, bur rhe wartime marker fo r lux ury yachrs had collapsed and the brokerage division of Cox & Stevens had app raised Sea Cloud at a mere $275 ,000. H ence, on 2 January 1942, the yacht was chartered fo r $ 1 per year to the US Navy for use by the Coas t Guard. Sea Cloud arrived at rhe Coas t G uard Yard in C urtis Bay, Maryland, on 11January 1942 fo r co nversion to a weather observari on ship. H er sailing rig was rem oved and a house was installed on deck for inflating weather balloo ns fo r radiosonde observations. H er armam ent included fo ur twin-mounted 40-cal iber and eight 20-cal iber machine guns, two 3-inch 50-caliber guns, 44 depth charges, and anti-s ubma rine wea po nry. She was co mmissio n ed as 17