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NavSource Online: Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

Black Douglas (PYc 45)



Call sign:
Nan - Yoke - Dog - Nan

ex-IX-55

Black Douglas served both the U. S. Navy and Fish and Wildlife Service.
Coastal Patrol Yacht:

  • Laid down 22 November 1929 as the 3-masted Staysail Auxiliary Schooner Black Douglas by Bath Iron Works, Bath, ME
  • Launched 9 June 1930
  • Delivered 29 July 1930
  • Sold to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in September 1941
  • Acquired by the Navy in 1942 and classified as a Miscellaneous Unclassified Auxiliary, IX-55
  • Placed in service as USS Black Douglas (IX 55), 18 April 1942
  • Reclassified a Coastal Patrol Yacht, PYc-45, 8 April 1943
  • Commissioned USS Black Douglas (PYc 45), 19 April 1943
  • Decommissioned 20 September 1944 at Puget Sound Navy Yard
  • Returned to the Fish and Wildlife Service 4 October 1944
  • Struck from the Navy Register 14 October 1944
  • Transferred to the Bureau of Fisheries in 1960 as a research vessel
  • Sold in 1972 to the George Stoll family, owners of the Flint School in Sarasota, FL and renamed teQuest
  • Sold in 1982 tp a group of investors and renamed Aquarius
  • Renamed Aquarius W
  • Renamed El Boughaz I by her new owner, the King of Morocco, and is often spotted around Marseille, France
  • She is presently up for sale at a price of $6,000,000 - $7,000,000. This price is a little high for the amount of yacht, but she now carries a $1-2 million "HISTORICAL" premium
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 371 t.
  • Length 133' 5"
  • Beam 32'
  • Draft 12'
  • Speed 9.5 kts.
  • Armament: Four .50 cal. machine guns
  • Propulsion: Sail (9,111 square feet of canvas) and two 325hp Cooper Bessemer auxiliary diesel engines, later changed to a 400hp Enterprise diesel engine, and now equipped with two 290hp Volvo diesel engines, one shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Schooner Black Douglas
    Black Douglas 114k c. 1930.
    Bath, ME
    Under construction    		 Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
    Black Douglas 44k 9 June 1930.
    Bath, ME
    Launching    		 Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
    Black Douglas 177k c. 1930. Artists rendition of Black Douglas. Maine Maritime Museum
    Black Douglas 68k c. 1930. Cooper Bessemer Diesels Advertisement.
    Black Douglas 45k c. 1938 Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
    Black Douglas 65k 29 October 1941
    Leaving Savannah, GA    		 Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
    Black Douglas 60k c. 1941
    Bainbridge Island, WA    		 Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
    USS Black Douglas (PYc 45)
    Black Douglas 87k c. 1942 Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
    Black Douglas 104k c. 1942
    Seattle, WA    		 Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
    Black Douglas 43k 30 March 1943
    U.S. Navy photo    		 Joe Radigan
    FWS Black Douglas
    Black Douglas 213k Black Douglas as a Fish and Wildlife Service ship on San Diego Bay, with view of Coronado Island and Point Loma in background. .
    Black Douglas 93k . Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
    Schooner teQuest
    teQuest 74k c. 1979/80. Seen as teQuest. Flint School
    Schooner Aquarius
    Aquarius 61k c. 1983. Seen here as Aquarius. Flint School
    View the Black Douglas (PYc 45)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval Historical Center web site
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    History of the Schooner Black Douglas
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back to the Auxiliary Ship Index Back to the Miscellaneous Unclassified Auxiliary Ship (IX) Photo Index Back to the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Ship Type Index Back to the Coastal Patrol Yacht (PYc) Photo Index
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    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan
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