Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

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

Black Douglas (PYc 45)

Call sign:
November - Yankee - Delta - November

ex-IX-55

Black Douglas served both the U. S. Navy and Fish and Wildlife Service.

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. 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. Currently at Nice, France (as of May 2003), under British registry. Fate unknown.

Specifications: Displacement 371 t.; Length 133' 5" ; Beam 32'; Draft 12'; Speed 9.5 kts.; Complement unknown; Armament four .50 cal. machine guns; Propulsion sail (9,111 square feet of canvas) or two 325hp Cooper Bessemer auxiliary diesel engines, later changed to a 400hp Enterprise diesel engine, and now equipped with two Volvo diesel engines, two shafts.

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
Schooner Black Douglas
	114k	c. 1930. Bath, ME Under construction	Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
	44k	9 June 1930. Bath, ME Launching	Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
	177k	c. 1930. Artists rendition of Black Douglas.	Maine Maritime Museum
	68k	c. 1930.	Cooper Bessemer Diesels Advertisement.
	45k	c. 1938	Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
	65k	29 October 1941 Leaving Savannah, GA	Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
	60k	c. 1941 Bainbridge Island, WA	Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
USS Black Douglas (PYc 45)
	87k	c. 1942	Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
	104k	c. 1942 Seattle, WA	Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
	43k	30 March 1943 U.S. Navy photo	Joe Radigan
FWS 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.	.
	93k	.	Skidaway Institute of Oceanography website
Schooner teQuest
	74k	c. 1979/80. Seen as teQuest.	Flint School
Schooner Aquarius
	61k	c. 1983. Seen here as Aquarius.	Flint School