USS Lyndonia ( SP - 734 ) USS " Lyndonia " ( SP - 734 ) , later known as USS " Vega " ( SP - 734 ) was a yacht acquired by the U . S . Navy during World War I . She was assigned as an armed patrol craft , but , at times , performed other duties along the U . S . East Coast , such as dispatch boat and training ship for the U . S . Naval Academy . Post - war , she was disposed of through sale to the public . Constructed in New York . " Lyndonia " — a steel - hulled , steam yacht designed by Charles L . Seabury and built in 1907 at Morris Heights , New York , by the Gas Engine and Power Co . and the Charles Seabury Co . - - was acquired by the Navy from the noted Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , publisher Cyrus H . K . Curtis on 5 September 1917 . Designated SP - 734 and converted for Navy use at the Philadelphia Navy Yard , the former yacht was placed in commission on 4 December 1917 , Lt . Comdr . John J . McCracken in command . World War I service . Start - up problems . " Lyndonia " departed Philadelphia on 22 December bound for Bermuda in company with " Venetia " ( SP - 431 ) and tugs " Gypsum Queen " ( SP - 430 ) and " Montauk " ( SP - 1213 ) . At 1020 the following day , " Lyndonia " blew two tubes in her forward boiler ; at 1800 , all tubes in the after boiler blew as well . As the ship slowly lost steam , she signaled " Venetia " of her plight . Accordingly , at 1820 , " Montauk " passed a hawser to " Lyndonia " and took her in tow . On Christmas Day , while en route to the Virginia Capes , the remaining boiler tubes blew , leaving the ship without any steam whatever . As if losing steam were not enough , 10 minutes later , the hawser parted , leaving " Lyndonia " adrift for nearly 20 minutes before she was again taken in tow . Subsequently , " Joseph F . Bellows " ( SP - 323 ) pulled " Lyndonia " to the Norfolk Navy Yard where the yacht then underwent repairs in drydock . Ice blocks passage . " Lyndonia " got underway on 4 February for New London , Connecticut , and arrived off the Delaware Capes the following day , only to encounter heavy ice floes which blocked further passage . She accordingly returned to Norfolk , Virginia , and remained there into the spring , serving as dispatch and mail boat in the Chesapeake Bay . During this tour of duty , on 20 February , the ship was renamed " Vega " . On 22 April , " Vega " sailed for Philadelphia . Arriving there the following day , she was attached to the 4th Naval District and based at Cold Spring Inlet , near Cape May , New Jersey , for patrols off the New Jersey coast . Friendly fire on a neutral ship . On 25 June , " Vega " sighted a ship resembling a surfaced submarine at long range . Going to general quarters , " Vega " altered course to close the unidentified craft and flashed recognition signals and challenges in Morse code . The ship would not respond , however , and " Vega " opened fire with her 6 - pounder forward — firing six quick shots before the target hove to . Upon closer investigation , the unidentified ship turned out to be " SS Skandeborg " , a Danish merchantman bound from Cuba to New York City with a general cargo — mostly sugar . No member of the Danish vessel ' s crew knew Morse code — hence her seeming reluctance to reply to " Vega ' s " challenges ! The warship continued her operations out of Cold Spring Inlet into the fall of 1918 . During this period , she also undertook local escort duties . Assigned as training ship . On 28 October , following repairs at the New York Navy Yard , " Vega " sailed south to Annapolis , Maryland , where she arrived three days later to commence duties as a training ship for midshipmen at the U . S . Naval Academy . She remained in the Annapolis vicinity from 1 November to 4 December before she got underway for Pensacola , Florida , on 5 December . Reaching Pensacola three days before Christmas , 1918 , " Vega " conducted local operations out of Pensacola until 22 March 1919 , when she got underway for Philadelphia . Post - war disposition . The yacht remained at the Philadelphia Navy Yard through the spring and summer months , and was decommissioned on Friday , 13 September 1919 . She was subsequently sold to Charles H . Crocker , of San Francisco , California , on 20 December 1921 . Meanwhile , in 1920 , Curtis had a new ship built named Lyndonia after his home estate with that ship , one of the great yachts of its era , also seeing Army and Navy service in World War II .