USS Vixen ( PG - 53 ) USS " Vixen " ( PG - 53 ) was a gunboat of the United States Navy during World War II , in which it served as a flagship to the Commanders of the Atlantic Fleet . Built as the " Orion " by Krupp Germaniawerft at Kiel , Germany in 1929 , the steel - hulled yacht was purchased from German - American woollen manufacturer Julius Forstmann on 13 November 1940 . Converted to a gunboat at Brooklyn , New York , by the Sullivan Drydock and Repair Co . , the erstwhile pleasure craft was renamed " Vixen " and designated PG - 53 . Commissioned at her conversion yard on 25 February , with Comdr . Pal L . Meadows in command , " Vixen " got underway for the Caribbean on 5 March 1941 . Service history . 1941 – 1942 . During her shakedown cruise , the gunboat called at St . Thomas , Virgin Islands ; San Juan , Puerto Rico ; and Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , before heading north for Norfolk , Virginia . She then cruised up the eastern seaboard to New London , Connecticut , and back to Norfolk again before she returned to New London on 23 May to assume duties as flagship for Commander , Submarines , Atlantic Fleet , ( ComSubLant ) , Rear Admiral Richard S . Edwards . The gunboat served Admiral Edwards throughout 1941 . During this time , she participated in ceremonies off the Isles of Shoals , New Hampshire , on 22 June , honoring the crew of - a training submarine which had gone down during practice diving tests on 20 June and had failed to surface . From 30 July to 13 August , she took part in Fleet maneuvers off New River , North Carolina ; voyaged to Bermuda in October ; and cruised to Argentia , Newfoundland ; and Casco Bay , Maine , before returning to New London on 6 December - the day before Japan ' s attack on Pearl Harbor . " Vixen " remained at New London until 20 December , when Commander , Submarines , Atlantic , hauled down his flag . That day , the gunboat got underway for Newport , Rhode Island , where she went alongside the recently vacated flagship to pick up Admiral Ernest J . King ' s papers and belongings for transportation to the Washington Navy Yard . Earlier that day , King had flown from Quonset Point , Rhode Island , to Washington D . C . to commence his tour of duty as Commander in Chief , United States Fleet . " Vixen " got underway on the day after Christmas and arrived at the nation ' s capital on the 28th . Two days later , on 30 December , Admiral King broke his four - starred flag at " Vixen " s main . The gunboat served as his flagship , berthed at the Washington Navy Yard , until 17 June 1942 when she was relieved by . 1942 – 1944 . While " Vixen " was undergoing the refit which followed , Admiral Royal E . Ingersoll , Commander in Chief , Atlantic Fleet , was laying plans for the yacht ' s future deployment . " I hope to get the " Vixen " in mid - July , " he wrote an acquaintance on 10 June ; " I will then be able to move to spots where there is more activity than here , and where I can see people , without their having to come to the ' mountain ' . " " Vixen " embarked Admiral Ingersoll at Newport on 21 July and got underway for Boston in company with . Over the subsequent months , the ship ranged up and down the eastern seaboard from Maine to the Caribbean isles . Calling at Portland , Maine ; New London ; Philadelphia ; New York City ; Norfolk ; Portsmouth , New Hampshire ; Bermuda ; the Dominican Republic ; Trinidad ; Curaçao - the ship ' s itinerary showed clearly that Ingersoll had mobility and was utilizing it to the fullest . From this base of operations , Ingersoll kept his finger on the pulse of German U - boat activity and the problems confronting the officers and ships under his command . Under his leadership , the Atlantic Fleet slowly , but surely , turned the tide against the Nazi submarines . His close contact with his commanders enabled Ingersoll to know local conditions and thus to deploy his forces where they could be most useful . 1944 – 1945 . On 15 November 1944 , Admiral Jonas H . Ingram relieved Ingersoll as Commander in Chief , Atlantic Fleet , and broke his flag in " Vixen " . Ingram , who had so successfully conducted United States - Brazilian relations during the period when he commanded American naval forces in the South Atlantic , would fly his flag in the gunboat through the end of hostilities , as the Atlantic Fleet continued to wear down the U - boat offensive . Decommissioning and sale . " Vixen " was decommissioned on 24 May 1946 and struck from the Navy List on 3 July 1946 . Transferred to the War Shipping Administration , " Vixen " was sold on 21 January 1947 . In commercial service , 1947 – 2004 . " Vixen " reverted to her original name , " Orion " , and operated as a cruise ship in the Panama region . In 1965 she was saved from the scrap yard by Epirotiki Lines of Greece . She was taken to Pireus in Greece where she was rebuilt from the hull upwards and turned into the " Argonaut " , a luxury cruise ship under charter to Raymond Whitcombe , touring , amongst others , places such as the Mediterranean , Caribbean , and the Fjords of Norway . In 1995 she was sold to Memnon Tours of Cairo , Egypt , and renamed " Regina Maris " , operating a seven - night cruise in the Red Sea , and later in 2001 , the Mediterranean , under charter to Phoenix - Riesen of Germany . She was laid up in Alexandria , Egypt , from late 2001 until 2004 when she was sold and taken to Greece to be used as a floating hotel during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics . She was sold for scrap once the Games were over , and taken to Turkey where she was broken up in 2005 .