USS Irene Forsyte ( IX - 93 ) USS " Irene Forsyte " ( IX - 93 ) was a three masted schooner originally built as " MacLean Clan " which was briefly converted to a Q - ship , of the United States Navy . In commercial service . The three - masted schooner " MacLean Clan " was built in 1920 by MacLean Construction Company , Mahone Bay , Nova Scotia for H . W . Adams of Lunenburg , Nova Scotia . Built at the end of the era of three masted merchant schooners , she was one of two schooners built by MacLean construction in 1920 , the other being the auxiliary tern schooner " Cote Nord " . " Maclean Clan " worked in the coastal trade into the 1930s . She had an auxiliary engine installed in 1926 and was sold and re - registered in Windsor , Nova Scotia in 1929 . In the early 1930s she was purchased by Captain Thomas Antle . Renamed " Irene Myrtle " , the schooner barely survived the tough trade conditions of that time and was in poor condition by the end of the decade . Given a new lease on life by the increased shipping traffic provoked by the war , she served in the coal trade between New England and Nova Scotia into 1942 . That summer , while the ship was loading coal at New London , Connecticut , Captain Antle died and the ship was eventually put up for sale . Acquired by the US Navy . At this time , the U . S . Navy began looking for a smaller coastal vessel to serve as a Q - ship , complementing the larger decoy ships , , and . Purchased on 16 November 1942 , for about US $ 12 , 000 , the schooner was renamed " Irene Forsyte " and given hull designation symbol IX - 93 on 7 December . She was delivered to the Thames Shipyard of New London , Connecticut , for conversion . Fitted with new engines , quick - firing armament , as well as concealed radar and sonar equipment , the auxiliary was commissioned 26 August 1943 , Lieutenant Commander Richard Parmenter in command . Service history . Based on the experience of Q - ships during World War I , it was hoped " Irene Forsyte " , with her relatively heavy armament concealed , could lure German submarines into close quarters on the surface and sink them with gunfire . Success in the venture would require a good disguise . After a volunteer crew sailed the schooner from New London on 29 September 1943 , she changed her name and flag to that of a Portuguese Grand Banks fishing schooner . The crew also further concealed the guns and altered her rigging and profile . The disguised Q - ship then stood southeast in hopes of encountering enemy submarines . Originally , the Navy planned to use the vessel off the " Trinidad corner " where U - boat s had congregated and where several schooner s had been attacked . However , by the time she was ready for sea , the situation had changed and she was given orders to sail on or about 26 September for Recife , Brazil , along the Maury Track . In the early morning hours of 4 October 1943 , a dispatch from " Irene Forsyte " reported that she was hove to at approximately 38°N , 66°W ( near Bermuda ) . The schooner ' s seams had opened during the course of a heavy storm and her pumps were just able to keep ahead of the flooding . The message further stated that the condition might become serious if the heavy weather continued ; permission was requested to proceed to Bermuda for repairs . Commander - in - Chief , U . S . Atlantic Fleet ( CINCLANT ) , ordered two tugs to proceed to the scene and render assistance . Later in the day , however , " Irene Forsyte " reported that no assistance was needed , that she was proceeding to Bermuda , The tugs were recalled . She anchored in Hamilton Sound , Bermuda , and was reconditioned . Immediately a Board of Investigation convened to determine why the vessel had been permitted to go to sea in such obviously unseaworthy condition . In commenting on the report of the Naval Inspector General , Commander in Chief , United States Fleet ( Cominch ) wrote : The schooner arrived New York 8 November 1943 and , after an inspection three days later , she was decommissioned 16 December . Transferred to the War Shipping Administration , she was used for a time on a loan basis by the Merchant Marine Cadet Corps as a training ship until returned to the Navy for disposal on 28 November 1944 . Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 22 December 1944 , the schooner was transferred to the Maritime Commission and eventually sold at public auction 18 October 1945 . Fate . Purchased by a Cuban shipping firm , she was renamed " Santa Clara " and served another six years in the island trade . The old schooner met her end off La Ceiba when , heavily laden , she ran into bad weather , took on water and sank on 21 December 1951 .