USS Yacona ( SP - 617 ) USS " Yacona " ( SP - 617 ) , built in 1898 in Scotland , started her life as a civilian steam yacht . She was called " Cem " and " Amélia " in her early years and only later renamed " Yacona " , the name she had when she was acquired by the US Navy in September 1917 . During the period when she was called " Amélia " , the 527 gross ton vessel was owned by D . Carlos , King of Portugal between 1889 and 1908 , who was an oceanographer and used her on his research voyages . She was known as Amélia III , being the third of four yachts owned by D . Carlos sharing the same name . USS " Yacona " . World War I . " Yacona " was built in 1898 at Kinghorn , Scotland , by John Scott and Co . , shipwrights , and was purchased around 1906 by Henry Clay Pierce , of New York City , a noted financier and oil industry pioneer . The Navy acquired the yacht at New York City on 29 September 1917 , inspecting her at Shewan Shipyard . On the same day ( 10 October ) that that yard estimated that the alterations necessary to fit the ship out as an armed patrol vessel could be completed by 1 November , the Navy ordered her to proceed to Boston where the previous owner ’ s own workmen could remove the pleasure craft ’ s interior woodwork . " Yacona " got underway on 12 October from the Shewan yard , but grounded in the channel at New York ’ s Hell Gate . Taken to the New York Navy Yard for minor repairs , the ship ultimately made the shift to her original destination ( Boston ) , and fitted out at the Boston Navy Yard . Assigned the designation " SP - 917 " and regarded as “ one of the strongest and best built vessels of her size … that will make a most serviceable vessel , ” " Yacona " was commissioned on 10 December 1917 , LCDR John W . Wilcox , Jr . , in command . " Yacona " put to sea early on 20 December 1917 and anchored off Provincetown , Massachusetts , later that day . The next day , she test - fired her main battery , firing four rounds from each 3 - inch gun and 50 rounds from each Colt machine gun , and “ found same to be in good working order . ” The converted yacht returned to the New York Navy Yard three days before Christmas , and remained there into February 1918 , a period punctuated by one brief interval underway , when the ship got underway , assisted by tug , to proceed to the waters off Tompkinsville where she anchored overnight ( 29 to 30 January 1918 ) . " Yacona " departed the New York Navy Yard shortly before the end of the forenoon watch on 6 February 1918 in company with " Mariner " and the converted yacht , bound for New London , Connecticut . The ships proceeded through increasingly heavy ice floe s that impeded their progress the following day as they neared their destination , " Yacona " having to take " Wadena " in tow at one point when ice damage compelled " Mariner " — which had twice extricated " Wadena " from the floes — to stop to effect temporary repairs . Eventually , by maneuvering at various courses and speeds , " Yacona " managed to push through the ice and reach her destination , dropping anchor late in the first watch on 7 February . She got underway from New London on 22 February , then passed up Narragansett Bay , and reached the U . S . Naval Coaling Station , Melville , Rhode Island , that afternoon . Pausing briefly at Newport , the next day , she then cast off from alongside " Wadena " and put to sea , bound for Bermuda during the morning watch on 24 February . " Yacona " , steaming in company with " Wadena " , " Mariner " , and the tug , then rendezvoused with a convoy of eleven submarine chasers soon thereafter ; the French tug " Mohican " brought up the rear . As the convoy worked its way down the eastern seaboard , however , it encountered a heavy southwesterly gale that sprang up on 26 February 1918 . A half hour before the end of the forenoon watch , heavy seas carried away part of the bulwarks on the starboard bow , and smashed in the ports on the starboard side of " Yacona " ’ s deck house , flooding her pay office and radio room . Later that day , the ship developed a leak that inundated some of her bunker spaces and flooded the fireroom to a depth of one foot . Heavy seas pounded her smaller consort " Mariner " , too , opening her seams . After that tug ’ s pumps failed , rising water put out her boiler fires ; powerless , she had to be abandoned , " Wadena " rescuing her entire crew . " Yacona " reduced speed in the gale , and the next day took submarine chaser in tow . " Yacona " ’ s quartermaster noted that during the afternoon watch on 27 February , the task of removing water from the fireroom bilges occupied all hands . Reaching Bermuda on 1 March 1918 , " Yacona " , whose crew discovered hundreds of pounds of water - damaged rations ranging from staples like sugar and flour to potatoes and pork sausage that had to be disposed - of as the result of the storm , remained there into April , undergoing needed voyage repairs . She sailed on the morning of 8 April 1918 to escort a convoy that consisted of two U . S . Army tugs , " Cadmus " and " Seminole " , the tanker , the destroyer tender , and submarine chasers , , , , , and . En route to the Azores , " Yacona " conducted gunnery and general quarters drills and made part of the passage under sail to conserve coal . She and her convoy stood in to Ponta Delgada on the morning of 22 April ; the yacht moored alongside the Russian bark " Montrosa " . After coaling ship , " Yacona " headed for Bermuda on 4 May , in company with " Wadena " and the fuel ship , and made port at Hamilton ten days later . " Yacona " made one more round - trip voyage to the Azores and back , escorting a group of six submarine chasers , the cruiser and the Naval Overseas Transportation Service tanker eastbound and returning westbound in company with old consort " Wadena " and the tugs , , and on 20 June 1918 . After engine repairs at the British dockyard there and having her hull painted , she departed Bermuda on 9 July in company with the minesweeper and the tug and headed for New London , with U . S . Vice Consul to Switzerland Louis Lombard and his son embarked for transportation “ to [ the ] next port … ” " Yacona " reached New London on the afternoon of 12 July 1918 and disembarked her passengers . She then spent the next several weeks undergoing voyage repairs , first at the New York Navy Yard , from 19 to 25 July , and then at Tietjen and Lang ’ s Dockyard , Hoboken , New Jersey , from 25 July to 27 August . She shifted to New London ( 28 – 30 August ) , then sailed for Charleston , South Carolina . One day out of New London , she went to general quarters early in the mid watch on 31 August and trained her guns on a “ suspicious object . ” The dark shape , however , quickly disappeared from sight in the thick haze and the ship ’ s own smoke . Then , after voyage repairs at Charleston ( 2 – 6 August ) , she put to sea as escort for a convoy of three submarine chasers assigned to the French Navy : , , and . Reaching Bermuda on 10 September , she sailed five days later for the Azores in company with cruiser and tugs " Arctic " and " Goliah " and a covey of submarine chasers , and arrived at her destination on 27 September . As the converted yacht prepared to sail from Ponta Delgada on 2 October , however , her port anchor fouled the mooring gear . To “ expedite matters and join the convoy ” then sailing for Hamilton , she slipped the anchor and of chain . Less than a half hour into the first dog watch on 9 October , while steaming in company with " Chicago " , " Arethusa " , " Goliah " , " Arctic " and " Undaunted " , the yacht spotted another “ suspicious object ” on the surface and went to general quarters . She commenced firing three minutes later but , after identifying her target as a drifting buoy , ceased fire . " Yacona " arrived back at St . George ' s Harbour , Bermuda , on 12 October 1918 ; departed those waters on 5 November , bound for New York . Making the initial leg of the voyage in company with the tug " Iroquois " and her tow , the freighter " Seguranca " , the yacht arrived at the New York Navy Yard on 11 November 1918 , the day that the armistice ended World War I . Post - war service . " Yacona " was next attached to Division 3 , Battleship Force 1 , United States Atlantic Fleet , " Yacona " departed Boston on 10 December 1918 , transited the Cape Cod Canal on 11 December , and anchored off the mouth of the York River on 13 December on account of heavy fog . The following day , she shifted her anchorage upriver and , on 15 December , briefly embarked Rear Admiral Thomas Washington , commander of the battleship division to which the ship had been attached , when he came on board from his flagship , . After moving to Hampton Roads the day after Christmas of 1918 , " Yacona " sailed for New York in company with converted yacht . The two ships arrived off Tompkinsville on 13 January 1919 . " Yacona " then got underway for New London two days later , arriving there on 16 January . Placed in the Reserve Squadron , Antisubmarine Squadron in Training , in January 1919 , " Yacona " remained at New London into June , principally in a succession of berths alongside the State Pier there . She departed New London on 13 June and arrived at the New York Navy Yard on 16 June to unload her ammunition and have her guns removed . On 26 June 1919 , the converted yacht was decommissioned and placed in reserve at the New York Navy Yard . On 22 April 1920 , the Navy decided to sell the vessel but , on 14 September , cancelled the sale order . Taken out of reserve and recommissioned on 11 October 1920 , LCDR Ralph E . Simpson in command , " Yacona " remained at the navy yard into February 1921 , being cleaned and painted preparatory to a voyage to the Far East . Upon completion of her overhaul , she departed New York on 1 March and proceeded to Bermuda , utilizing sails for part of the passage to conserve coal . After calling at Hamilton from 5 to 14 March , " Yacona " pressed on across the Atlantic , visiting Ponta Delgada from 24 to 29 March and reaching Gibraltar on 3 April . She remained at that British bastion for almost a month , weighing anchor on the 28th and heading for Malta on the next leg of her passage to the Orient . While at Malta from 3 to 8 May , " Yacona " full - dressed ship in honor of the anniversary of the accession of King George V to the throne of England and , along with all other ships and batteries in the harbor , fired a 21 - gun national salute at noon on 6 May to celebrate the event . " Yacona " stood out of Grand Harbour , Valletta , on 8 May 1921 , bound for Egypt . After provisioning at Port Said on 12 May , " Yacona " transited the Suez Canal the next day and proceeded to Aden arriving a week later , on 20 May . There , " Yacona " took on fresh water and coal , and sailed during the first watch the same day . However , a board of investigation convened during the mid watch on 21 May determined that the quantity of coal she had received had proved to be of inferior quality , and she put back into Aden soon thereafter , where LT George M . Snead ( SC ) , " Yacona " ’ s supply officer went ashore to confer with representatives of Cory Brothers . A representative of Cory Brothers visited the ship shortly after LT Snead returned , remaining on board for only a quarter of an hour , long enough , apparently , to confirm the Americans ’ complaint . She shifted berths the following day and a tug brought two lighters alongside for the laborious and dirty task of un - coaling ship , a process that lasted from the afternoon watch on 22 May to the forenoon watch the following day – the bad coal was later taken out to sea and dumped . " Yacona " resumed her eastward voyage on 23 May and arrived at Bombay , India , on 1 June . There , she coaled and once again dressed - ship , this time for the King ' s Birthday on 3 June . The ship departed that port the next day . After calling at Colombo , Ceylon , from 9 to 24 June and at Singapore from 3 to 7 July , where she “ full - dressed ship in honor of American independence ” on 4 July , " Yacona " stood into Manila Bay on 14 July , assisted to her berth in Cavite harbor by the tug " Tamarao " , her voyage from the eastern seaboard of the United States completed . Shifting from Cavite to the Coast Guard Dock , Engineer Island , Manila , on the morning of 16 July 1921 , " Yacona " was decommissioned on 27 July 1921 and turned over to representatives of the Philippine Insular Government .