USS Mayflower ( PY - 1 ) USS " Mayflower " ( PY - 1 ) ( later as USCGC " Mayflower " ( WPG - 183 ) ) was the second ship in the United States Navy to have that name . " Mayflower " — a luxurious steam yacht built in 1896 by J . and G . Thompson , Clydebank , Scotland for millionaire Ogden Goelet who died on board the " Mayflower " in August 1897 . Spanish - American War . With the Spanish - American War requiring that the Navy expand rapidly , she was purchased by the Navy from Goelet ' s estate and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard as the USS " Mayflower " on 24 March 1898 with Commander M . R . S . McKensie in command . The " Mayflower " joined Admiral William T . Sampson ' s squadron at Key West , Florida on 20 April . Two days later , the squadron sailed to blockade Havana , Cuba . " En route " , " Mayflower " captured the Spanish schooner " Santiago Apostol " . She also took a number of fishing boats and coastal trading vessels . On 11 May , she boarded a large British merchant steamer , which also carried the name " Mayflower " , and sent the blockade runner to the United States under a prize crew . On the 14th , Alfonso led two Spanish gunboat s out of the harbor hoping to break through the American blockade . " Mayflower " s guns engaged the Spanish warships and drove them back to shelter under the guns of Morro Castle . For the rest of the war , " Mayflower " guarded the ports of Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos . Caribbean . Early in 1899 , the yacht steamed to New York where she decommissioned on 2 February to be fitted out for special service in Puerto Rican waters . She recommissioned on 15 June 1900 , with Commodore Duncan Kennedy in command . At San Juan , she served as headquarters for the government of the island being formed by the first American Governor Charles H . Allen . In 1902 , " Mayflower " twice served as Admiral George Dewey ' s flagship . In November 1903 , Rear Admiral Joseph Coghlan flew his flag when off Panama during the revolution which established Panamanian independence and pointed toward the construction of the Panama Canal . She sailed to Europe in the summer of 1904 , and in the fall carried Secretary of War William Howard Taft on an inspection tour of the West Indies . " Mayflower " was decommissioned at New York on 1 November 1904 for conversion to a presidential yacht . Presidential yacht . Recommissioned on 25 July 1905 , with Commander Cameron Winslow in command , she immediately sailed for Oyster Bay , Long Island , New York , to prepare for the peace conference which ended the Russo - Japanese War . President Roosevelt introduced the Russian and Japanese delegations on board " Mayflower " on 5 August . The ship continued to play a prominent role in support of the negotiations which won President Roosevelt the Nobel Peace Prize . After duty as a dispatch boat protecting American interests in Santo Domingo in 1906 , " Mayflower " served as presidential yacht until 1929 . She was the scene of many diplomatic and social events during these years . Many members of the world ' s royal families visited the yacht and numerous persons of great prominence signed her guestbook . President Wilson selected " Mayflower " as the setting for much of his courtship of Mrs . Edith Bolling Galt . One of President Hoover early acts as President was to dispense with " Mayflower " as an economy measure , saving upkeep costs of $ 300 , 000 per year . She was decommissioned on 22 March 1929 , and her Filipino crew was transferred to the presidential retreat at Rapidan Camp . Placed up for auction , there were no bidders , and the ship was recommissioned for military use . During this overhaul at the Philadelphia Navy Yard , an intense fire broke out on 24 January 1931 . So much water was pumped into her , that she sank and had to be raised . In private ownership . The yacht was sold on 19 October 1931 to Leo P . Coe , agent for Frank P . Parish , a wealthy financier known as " The boy wizard of LaSalle Street " ( Chicago ' s Wall Street ) . The following year while he was having the ship restored to her original luxurious splendor , by Henry J . Gerlow Inc . , of New York City , Parish ' s fortunes turned forcing him to sell the yacht shortly before he fled from the country to escape from prosecution and elude irate investors . During the depression years , a number of successive owners tried to promote a wide variety of projects for the ship , including use in the South America coastal trade , restoration as a historic relic , use as a floating dance salon , and even sale to the Japanese Government to be scrapped as Japan sought still to strengthen her war machine . However , a complex web of legal difficulties , a shortage of money , and marginal business conditions frustrated these enterprises while the ship idled in Atlantic ports from New York to Jacksonville , Florida , awaiting an opportunity for future service . World War II . After America entered World War II , the War Shipping Administration purchased " Mayflower " from Broadfoot Iron Works Inc . , Wilmington , North Carolina , on 31 July 1942 and renamed her Butte . Transferred to the Coast Guard on 6 September 1943 , the ship was recommissioned as USS " Mayflower " ( WPE - 183 ) on 19 October 1943 . She patrolled the Atlantic coast guarding against German U - boat s and escorted coastal shipping besides serving as a radar training ship at Norfolk and Boston . End of career . Decommissioned on 1 July 1946 , " Mayflower " was sold at Baltimore to Frank M . Shaw on 8 January 1947 for use in the Arctic as a sealer . However , while sailing for sealing waters between Greenland and Labrador , early in March , " Mayflower " was damaged by fire off Point Lookout and forced to return to Baltimore . Collins Distributors Inc . , purchased the ship early in 1948 , installed new boilers in her at New York , and documented her as " Malla " under the Panamanian flag . She was subsequently fitted out at Genoa , Italy , ostensibly for coastwise trade in the Mediterranean . After sailing secretly from Marseilles , she arrived at Haifa in Israel on 3 September . On board were Jewish refugees . Most were former passengers of the ill - fated " Exodus " which had been turned back from Palestine the previous summer . The " Mayflower " was purchased by Israel in 1950 and renamed INS " Maoz " ( K 24 ) . In the Israeli Navy she served as a patrol craft and training ship . The " Maoz " was decommissioned and broken up in 1955 . Legacy . The " Mayflower " had one of the most diverse and interesting " lives " of any ship in history . She served as the presidential yacht from five United States presidents ( T . Roosevelt , Taft , Wilson , Harding , Coolidge ) . She also served as a warship , and was possibly the only US Navy ship ( certainly one of the very few ) to have been in active commissioned service in the Spanish - American War , World War I and World War II . She was also one of the few ships to have served in both the United States and Israeli navies .