Lyndonia ( 1920 ) Lyndonia , built 1920 , was the second steam - yacht bearing the name and the third yacht built for publisher Cyrus H . K . Curtis by the then Consolidated Shipbuilding Company of Morris Heights , New York . The name is taken from the historic name of his estate , Lyndon , in Wyncote , Pennsylvania . After Curtis ' death in 1933 the yacht was purchased by Pan American Airways , converted to a floating hotel for use in the south Pacific and renamed Southern Seas in a shuttle service from Nouméa to Australia . At the outbreak of World War II the vessel was taken over by the U . S . Army for use as a passenger and cargo ship until grounded on a New Caledonian reef . The ship was salvaged by the U . S . Navy , repaired in New Zealand , commissioned 23 December 1942 as USS " Southern Seas " and designated as a Patrol Yacht ( PY - 32 ) . Yacht " Lyndonia " . " Lyndonia " was named " Yacht of the Year " in the May 1920 issue of " The Rudder " and described as the largest and most completely fitted vessel of the kind since World War I had put a stop to such construction . She was launched 3 April 1920 with Curtis and a large party of friends as witnesses , including Curtis ' captain , A . W . Rich . The ship was expected to be fitted out and ready for the season by 1 June . The yacht had three decks with the Jacobean style dining saloon , the early Tudor style smoking room and some accommodations on the main deck . Half of the lower deck was reserved for the owner and guest with six guest staterooms . The owner ' s apartments were created to resemble those found in a fine home ashore . The ship had a number of boats , the owner ' s thirty foot launch and a twenty - four foot crew ' s launch , two twenty - two foot life boats and an eighteen foot dinghy . She was powered by four Seabury boilers with two oil burners to each and two triple expansion steam engines with cruising speed of about 16 knots and range of 3 , 000 miles at that speed or 6 , 000 at 12 knots . Electricity was furnished by a 15 k . w . and a 30 k . w . General Electric generating set . She was fully equipped for navigation and had a ship stabilizer as well as gyro compass built by Sperry Gyroscope Company . In 1925 the steam plant was replaced with two diesel engines . The ship had a crew of 39 and Curtis spent considerable time and did much of his business aboard , stating " “ Yachting is not a hobby for me . It is a necessity . I spend half my time on this ship ” in an interview with a New York Times reporter . In a 1922 interview with " New York Times " reporter Rose C . Feld Curtis stated " Yachting is not a hobby with me . It is a necessity . I spend half my time on this ship . " He noted that most of his meetings with his staff or directors were held in the " Lyndonia ' s " dining room and that he stationed the ship to facilitate meetings . Comparing his use , and its position as his second home , he told the reporter " Most yacht owners show an annual run of three thousand miles . Ten thousand miles of cruising is no unusual figure for the " Lyndonia " . The yacht spent winter months in southern waters with many references to its Florida visits in social pages and returned to Camden for summer with her whistle on arrival signaling " summer " to some . After Curtis ' death , 7 June 1933 , the ship was laid up much of the time until sold to Pan American Airways in 1940 . Records related to the later sale of the vessel to the U . S . Army in 1940 mention " Corres . re : M . V . Southern Seas , including " A narrative relating to purchase and operation of the M . V . " Southern Seas " " ; Bill of Sale from Mrs . Curtis ( wife of owner of " The Saturday Evening Post " ) to Pan American Airways , Inc . " " Southern Seas " . Pan American Airways . Pan American Airways acquired the ship and made modifications for use as a " hotel " ship and surface link for its Clipper service based in Nouméa to Australia before it acquired landing rights in Australia . By September 1940 the ship was in Sydney for overhaul . The combination air - sea link between San Francisco and Sydney , made necessary by early British air lines ' opposition to landing rights , was to be on a seven day schedule with the ship ' s twenty luxurious staterooms providing the sea link for forty passengers at a cost of about £24 Australian . The war in Europe was intruding with the German raider " Orion " having sunk ships and been active off New Caledonia in mid August 1940 and even flying a reconnaissance aircraft over Nouméa that observed pro - de Gaulle and anti - Vichy crowds in public areas . Changed plans were indicated by early September with reports in connection with a report of high level visitors , including Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney , chairman of Pan American ' s directors , arriving by Clipper in Auckland by way of Nouméa that the yacht was purchased as a " floating air base " and not as a surface connection to Australia . The tense political situation contributing to these decisions is noted in a report of Mr . Vanderbilt ' s description of Nouméa with crowds demonstrating in favor of General de Gaulle under the guns of a Vichy warship , the " Dumont d ' Urville " . By mid September 1940 agreement had been reached on sharing routes , part of Pacific defense plans reached at a Wellington , New Zealand conference , resulted in plans for the ship ' s surface shuttle being replaced by its use as a floating transit hotel in Nouméa ' s harbor while the wartime political situation on the French island was resolved with the September 19 arrival of de Gaulle ' s representative Henri Camille Sautot backed by HMAS " Adelaide " . By May 1941 the ship was described , in contrast to a somewhat shabby but free Nouméa , as lying a half mile out in the harbor , a " dazzling white motor yacht " the " embodiment of smartness and comfort " with American officers and drink stewards , Melanesian deck hands and Japanese waiters that make passengers feel like millionaires at least for a night . The political situation ' s resolution in Nouméa resulted in the ship and routes being under Free vice Vichy French control of the Pan American air link until U . S . entry into the war . U . S . Army . After 7 December 1941 Pan American abandoned its commercial facilities in the Pacific war zone and requested they be taken over by the U . S . military . " Southern Seas " , along with other company prpoerty , was taken over by the U . S . Army and the seaplane base was kept operational by two Army Engineers , Captain MacCasland and Lieutenant Sauer , after Pan American evacuated its employees shortly after 7 December . On 30 Dec . 1941 the M . V . " Southern Seas " was purchased from Pan American Airways Inc . by the U . S . Army District Engineer ( Hawaii ) for the sum of one dollar while settlement was reached on value of the ship . The ship had been recommended for use as a transport supporting U . S . Army construction of South Pacific air ferry route airfields by Leif J . Sverdrup with some work surveying islands for suitable field locations . The " Southern Seas " was being used in February 1942 for accommodating airbase construction personnel in Nouméa harbor with a meeting aboard described by Captain Norman Miller in " I Took The Sky Road " between himself , a Lt . Colonel Rich and ' Jack ' Sverdrup , in charge of constructing airfields on a number of the islands , during a stop in Nouméa harbor on the return flight of XPBS - 1 from Java : The luxury of the " Southern Seas " was a far cry from the cramped quarters of the old XPBS , and I remained aboard over night , reveling in comforts previously enjoyed by Pan Am ' s customers . But the yacht was of no further use to Pan Am . Their service to New Zealand had been discontinued . The yacht was to be turned over to Sverdrup to serve him as a floating office which could follow him around among the islands . In the meeting they decided Sverdrup would fly from Nouméa to Suva , Sverdrup ' s headquarters , with the former yacht following . On 22 July 1942 in Taruia Pass while en route to Penrhyn Island on an island charting assignment , the ship struck an uncharted reef and her engine rooms were flooded . U . S . Navy . The Navy salvaged " Southern Seas " , towed the ship to New Zealand and made repairs before formally acquiring and commissioning the ship as USS " Southern Seas " ( PY - 32 ) on 23 December 1942 . The ship was used as a quarters ship in Auckland , New Zealand , New Caledonia , Nouméa , Gilbert Islands , Marshall Islands and the Marianas where she was located at Guam at the end of the war . She was dispatched to Okinawa where she arrived with the 15 September typhoon . During typhoon " Louise " of 9 October 1945 , in which twelve ships were sunk , two hundred twenty - two grounded and thirty - two damaged beyond crew ' s capability to repair , " Southern Seas " suffered collisions with five other vessels before sinking with loss of thirteen crew . See also . Pacific Clipper for a significant event related to Pan American assets , Nouméa and the outbreak of war in the Pacific .