USS Alabaster ( PYc - 21 ) USS " Alabaster " ( PYc - 21 ) was a coastal patrol yacht of the United States Navy during World War II . The ship was built in 1932 by the Mathis Yacht Building Co . of Camden , New Jersey , as the yacht Alamo as confirmed by the oval shipbuilder ' s plate affixed in the upper access portion of its engine room . It was acquired by the U . S . Navy on 3 January 1942 , renamed " Alabaster " on 13 January 1942 and simultaneously classified a coastal patrol yacht and designated PYc - 21 . Converted by the Philadelphia Navy Yard for naval service , it was commissioned on 31 January 1942 , with Lt . Cmdr . A . F . Edel , USNR , in command . Service history . World War II , 1942 – 1945 . Assigned to the Inshore Patrol and based at the section base at Cape May , New Jersey , " Alabaster " began patrolling the coast of the United States from Delaware Bay to Chesapeake Bay early in February and continued that assignment through the remainder of 1942 and most of 1943 . In September 1943 , the Navy decided to convert the vessel to an anti - submarine warfare ( ASW ) training platform . She spent the next two months in the Philadelphia Navy Yard receiving the modifications needed to prepare her to carry out her new mission , On 30 November , she stood out of Philadelphia , bound for the Naval Air Station Quonset Point , Rhode Island . The following day , the patrol yacht reported for duty with the Commander , Anti - submarine Development , Atlantic Fleet , at Quonset Point and began a month of training to ready her crew for the new assignment . On 5 January 1944 , she completed her training and received orders to report to the Commander , Eastern Sea Frontier for routing to the Canal Zone . " Alabaster " departed Cape May on 10 January and steamed — via Charleston , Miami , and Guantanamo Bay — to Balboa , Canal Zone , where she arrived on the 25th . The ship reported for duty with the 7th Fleet and got underway on 1 February with an oil tanker bound for Australia . The patrol yacht entered port at Cairns , Australia , on St . Patrick ' s Day , but put to sea again on 25 March . The little warship arrived in Milne Bay , New Guinea , where she remained for about three months instructing Navy men in the use of various ASW devices . In mid - June , she moved to Seeadler Harbor at Manus in the Admiralty Islands where she resumed ASW training duties . On 19 October , she departed Manus to return to New Guinea and dropped anchor at Hollandia on the 21st . She remained at that base until the end of January 1945 , providing ASW training services and making emergency repairs to radar and sonar equipment , On 31 January 1945 , she weighed anchor and shaped a course for the Philippines . " Alabaster " arrived in San Pedro Bay , Leyte , on 6 February and resumed her previous training and repair missions . The end of the war in mid - August 1945 found her still at Leyte , and she was then declared surplus to the needs of the Navy . The yacht cleared San Pedro Bay to return to the United States . Steaming via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor , " Alabaster " entered port at San Pedro , California , on 25 October . She remained anchored in the bay at San Pedro until decommissioned on 17 December 1945 . Her name was struck from the Navy List on 21 January 1946 , and she was transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal . In private ownership , 1947 – 1982 . " Alabaster " was initially sold on 9 April 1947 to Lyman A . Whitney , of San Diego , California , however this purchase was never completed , and she was finally purchased by Col . C . S . Smith , USAR , Ret . , who restored her as a private cruising yacht and renamed her Alamo . In 1959 – 1960 she was the setting ( called " Fortuna II " ) for the CBS television series " Mr . Lucky " , starring John Vivyan , Ross Martin and Pippa Scott . " Alamo " was sold in 1960 to Enrique Braun of Acapulco , renamed Fiesta II , and served as a harbor cruise vessel until 1982 . In that year it was sold and towed to Puerto Vallarta to be converted to a floating restaurant . It caught fire and sank during conversion and its wreckage is now a popular scuba diving venue .