THE LARGEST, MOST ORIGINAL ITEM IN OUR COLLECTION

[horus]

Hi everyone.This is the rarest and largest item of wartime historical interest we own so we thought you may be interested in seeing it.

It is a 38' Chris Craft, a Deluxe sedan cruiser, 1940 vintage, made in Michigan. According to records, after Pearl Harbour, the company turned it's attentions to making boats for the war effort, indeed, many of the landing craft used in numerous amphibious assaults throughout the different theatres of war were made by this company, making our boat one of the last they made in this configuration until after the war.

Compare ours to the War Bonds poster, showing the cruiser.

These boats were also heavily used as motor launches ferrying officers and dignitaries to and fro from the fleets.

My wife and I found this beauty on our return to Vancouver Island, and now plan on living aboard while re-installing the now '0' time Chrysler engines and generally restoring her to original condition, as she is such a rarity. She is kitted out in solid 3/4" birds eye maple, and is complete with all original fittings. We look forward to finding out a little more about the boat's history, as time allows, too. If anyone is interested further, I can send more pics, but please be patient for a response as we don't have internet on board!!! all the best, Horus.

[Johan Willaert]

That is one great vehicle!!!!!!!!

[horus]

Thanks. We couldn't call it a 'barn' find, but we could genuinely call it a 'shed' find, as it had been stored in a boat shed for the last 20 years or so. We were lucky that we have a good friend who used to own a boatyard and restored these boats, and he checked her out for us. It's also great to be able to enjoy such an item, living on board whilst bringing her back to her former glory. The gentle rocking of the waves provides an awesome sleep. We are currently moored alongside another wartime constructed vessel, a 1939 built Grand Banks schooner, in fact, the last original one in existence. At 130' long, she is a beautiful sight, too.

[Bob Hudson]

I wonder how many of this size of civilian boat were pressed into duty by the military in WWII?

 

The Navy had these designations for very large yachts pressed into service:

 

PY Patrol Craft (Small Converted Yacht)

PYc Patrol Craft (Converted Coastal Yacht)

 

The Coast Guard had:

WPY Yacht

WPYc Coastal Yacht

 

 

[horus]

Awesome, and you've even got another poster.

Ours would have been a coastal yacht/ launch. I am going to check with the Mariner's museum, who have a large file on these yachts, indeed, they even had a copy of the original spec sheet as delivered, giving us the original colour configurations.

[Bob Hudson]

Awesome, and you've even got another poster.

Ours would have been a coastal yacht/ launch. I am going to check with the Mariner's museum, who have a large file on these yachts, indeed, they even had a copy of the original spec sheet as delivered, giving us the original colour configurations.

 

You might want to check for old Coast Guard Auxiliary records. Smaller vessels might have been part of that civilian program which morphed into a "temporary Reserve" program after the war began, according this excerpt from the organization's history:

 

...on June 23, 1939, the Congress passed legislation which established the Coast Guard Reserve, its volunteer civilian component, to promote boating safety and to facilitate the operations of the Coast Guard. Groups of boat owners were organized into flotillas and these into divisions within Coast Guard Districts around the country. Members initially conducted safety and security patrols and helped enforce the provisions of the 1940 Federal Boating and Espionage Acts. Then in February 1941, a military reserve was created and the Reserve was renamed the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

 

Following America's entry into the World War II in December of 1941, recruits flooded into Auxiliary flotillas in a burst of patriotic fever. June 1942 legislation allowed Auxiliarists to enroll in the Coast Guard Reserve on a part-time temporary basis. Throughout the war, some 50,000 Auxiliarists constituted the core of the temporary Reserve membership. These reservists, along with newly enrolled civilians, performed coastal defense and search and rescue duties. They patrolled bridges, factories, docks, and beaches. They fought fires, made arrests, guided naval vessels, and conducted anti-submarine warfare. As their ranks grew, thousands of active duty Coast Guard personnel were freed up for service overseas.