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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Potomac (AG-25)
ex
 USCGC Electra (WPC-187) (1934 - 1935)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Echo - Juliet - Papa
 NEJP
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
Top Row - American Defense Medal - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal

USCGC Electra (WPC-187) was transferred to the US Navy prior to WWII and renamed USS Potomac (AG-25)
165 foot B Class Coast Guard Cutter
  • Laid down, 5 March 1934, at Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, Manitowoc, WI.
  • Launched, 30 June 1934
  • Delivered to the Coast Guard to enforce prohibition laws
  • Commissioned USCGC Electra (WPC-187), 25 October 1934
  • Acquired by the Navy. 8 November 1935, for use as a presidential yacht
  • Designated Miscellaneous Auxiliary AG-25, 11 November 1935
  • Renamed Potomac, 30 January 1936
  • Commissioned USS Potomac (AG-25) at Norfolk Navy Yard, Lt. W. R. Jones in command
  • Decommissioned, 15 November 1945
  • Returned to the Coast Guard, 23 November 1945
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 25 February 1946
  • Transferred in 1946 to the State of Maryland for service with the Tidewater Fisheries Commission
  • Resold to Warren G. Toone in April 1960 for service as a ferry boat between San Juan, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
  • Resold to Hydro Capital Co., refurbished, and used as a traveling historical museum of the Franklin D. Roosevelt era
  • Resold in January 1964 to Elvis Presley and given to St. Jude’s Hospital, Memphis, TN.
  • Resold, date unknown, and finally fully restored and docked at FDR Pier, Jack London Square, Oakland, CA.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 370 t.(lt) 401 t.(fl)
    Length 165'
    Beam 25' 4"
    Draft 8' 1" (mean)
    Speed 13 kts
    Complement 45
    Armament
    one single 3"/25 cal dual purpose gun mount
    Propulsion
    two Winton Model 6-158 Diesels
    Ship's Service Generators
    two Diesel-drive 30Kw 120V D.C.
    one Diesel-drive 15Kw 120V D.C.
    two 3 blade propellers 1340shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    USCGC Electra (WPC-187)
    Potomac 108k USCGC Electra (WPC-187) was turned over to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to use as his yacht . Electra replaced the Department of Commerce Inspection Boat USS Sequoia (AG-23, which was been returned to that department. Electra was large enough to accommodate the Presidential party and secret service agents. Electra was brought to Washington D.C. and formally turned over to the White House on 8 November 1935, She was renamed and designated USS Potomac (AG-25).
    US Library of Congress, Photo No. LC-H21-C-521    		 Mike Green
    USS Potomac (AG-25)
    Potomac 108k USS Potomac (AG-25) under way near the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA., 13 April 1936, soon after conversion from a Coast Guard cutter to a Presidential yacht.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 42600 courtesy Shipscribe.com/    		 Robert Hurst
    Potomac 51k USS Potomac (AG-25) underway, date and location unknown. Hazegray & Underway
    Potomac 77k USS Potomac (AG-25) under way, location unknown. Note the presidential seal on the face of the bridge and the presidential flag flying from the main mast. FDR stands between two naval officers forward of the stack.
    Photo courtesy of the Courier Gazette, Rockland, ME. from "U.S. Coast Guard Cutters and Craft of World War II" by Robert L. Scheina.    		 Robert Hurst
    Potomac 56k USS Potomac (AG-25) moored pierside, circa 1937, location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Robert Hurst
    Potomac
    NR&L(M) 24739    		 99k USS Potomac (AG-25) under way, 9 June 1939, with President F.D. Roosevelt and King George V1 and Queen Mary of the United Kingdom embarked during a royal visit to Washington, D.C. Note the flag of the British Royal family on the foremast and the Presidential flag at the main top. Note also that the mainmast has been moved forward since the ship's 1936 conversion.
    US Navy photo # NR&L(M) 24730 & NR&L(M) 24731 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Potomac
    NR&L(M) 24731    		 95k
    Potomac 132k USS Potomac (AG-25) moored pierside at Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C. in July 1939. The long building behind the ship's bow today (2009) houses the U.S. Navy Museum.
    US Navy photo # NR&L(M) 24753 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Potomac 90k USS Potomac (AG-25) under way off Norfolk Navy Yard, circa 1940. Tommy Trampp
    Iuka 322k USS Iuka (AT-37) undergoing an availability in Berth 5, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA., 15 November 1941. Moored outboard are the Presidential Yacht USS Potomac (AG-25) and USS Calypso (AG-35) the escort for Potomac Two covered lighters are visible in the background; upper right background, barely visible, is a British aircraft carrier, probably HMS Illustrious (87).
    US National Archives, Photo # 19-N-26088, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives     		Mike Green
    Potomac 395k Presidential yacht USS Potomac (AG-25) moored at Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., 5 May 1942. Potomac was the backdrop for a group photo of the Navy Diving School personnel.
    US National Archives Photo # 80-G-7166, a US Navy Photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 David Wright
    National Historical Landmark - USS Potomac (AG-25)
    Potomac 47k Ex-USS Potomac (AG-25) moored at her berth, the FDR pier, at Jack London Square, Oakland, CA., 27 May 2003.
    Photo courtesy of Christopher J. Wood    		 Robert Hurst
    Potomac 136k Ex-USS Potomac (AG-25) moored at her berth, the FDR pier, at Jack London Square, Oakland, CA. in 2008.
    Photos by Al Riel USS John Rogers.    		 John Chiquoine
    Potomac 97k
    Potomac 109k
    Potomac 1117k Ex-USS Potomac (AG-25) moored at her berth, the FDR pier, at Jack London Square, Oakland, CA., 30 April 2010. CAPT Jack C. Goldthorpe, USCG (Ret.)
    Potomac 1355k
    Potomac 1628k Ex-USS Potomac (AG-25) entering the Sausalito (CA) Channel, 7 November 2010. Photo by CAPT Jack C. Goldthorpe, USCG (Ret.)
    USS Potomac (AG-25)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR. Clark, Augustus Dayton2 March 1936 - 1938
    02LCDR. Jones, Walter Raymond1938 - 1940
    03LCDR. Leahey Jr., George Aloysius :RADM1940 - May 1941
    04LCDR. Pratt Jr., William VeazieMay 1941 - January 1943
    05LCDR. Kevers, John HerbertJanuary 1943 - 18 November 1945
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Presidential Yachts (I)
    USS Potomac Association
    National Historic Landmark - USS Potomac - Photo Collection of CAPT. Jack C. Goldthorpe USCG Ret.
    U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office - USCGC Electra WPC-187
    National Park Service - World War II in the San Francisco Bay Area - USS Potomac
    Postal Covers related to the ship
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 30 June 2017