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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Sequoia (AG-23)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Uniform - Romeo - Lima
NURL
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal (2)


  • Wooden yacht built in 1925-26 at Mathis Yacht Building Co., Camden, N.J.
  • Purchased by the Commerce Department, 24 March 1931, for service as a fisheries patrol vessel
  • Acquired by the Navy, for use as a Presidential Yacht
  • Commissioned, USS Sequoia (AG-23), 25 March 1933, LT. John S. Blue, USN in command
  • Decommissioned, 16 November 1933, and placed in service
  • Recommissioned, 1 April 1935
  • Decommissioned, 27 July 1935, and placed in service
  • Recommissioned, 1 August 1935
  • Decommissioned, 9 December 1935
  • Assigned as the Secretary of the Navy's Yacht in March 1936
  • Placed out of service in 1977
  • Sold, 1 June 1977, by Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service
  • Purchased, circa 1980 by Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp. (NORSHIPCO), Norfolk, VA.
  • Restored at McAllister repair yard, Stokes Landing Road, Palatka, FL.
  • Current Disposition, operating on the Potomac River
    Specifications:
    Displacement 90 t.(lt) 105 t.(fl)
    Length 104'
    Beam 18' 2"
    Draft 4' 6"
    Speed 12 kts.
    Complement 10
    Ship's Service Generators
    one Diesel-drive 5Kw 120V D.C.
    one Diesel-drive 10Kw 120V D.C.
    Propulsion
    two Winston 6-138 Diesel engines
    two propellers 400shp

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Source
    MY Sequoia II
    Sequoia 128k MY Sequoia II under way probably shown after completing construction in 1926. The image possibly from a yachting magazine, is captioned with the original name of the vessel Sequoia II.
    US Navy photo # NR&L(M) 22931 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command, courtesy Shipscribe.com.
    Robert Hurst
    USS Sequoia (AG-23)
    Sequoia 267k USS Sequoia (AG-23) being fitted out at Washington for use by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 5 April 1933.
    International News Photo.
    Tommy Trampp
    Sequoia 103k USS Sequoia (AG-23) off Washington, D.C., in 1938 (possibly 25 May).
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, photo # 19-N-18834, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.
    Robert Hurst
    Hartford 122k Potomac River Flood, October 1942. View of the Anacostia River waterfront, looking southeasterly from over the Washington Navy Yard, showing flood conditions. The 11th Street Bridge is at left, with the southeastern portion of the Navy Yard in the lower part of the view and part of the Anacostia Naval Station on the opposite side of the river.
    Ships in the river include USS Hartford (IX-13), in center; USS Dauntless (PG-61), tied up to one of the Navy Yard's piers at right; and USS Sequoia (AG-23), moored in the middle of the river at right. Note how far the flood waters have advanced up the Navy Yard's streets, well beyond Buildings # 1 and 76, in the lower right center.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 82601.
    Robert Hurst
    Sequoia 79k USS Sequoia (AG-23) under way on the Potomac River, date unknown.
    US Navy photo
    Haze Gray & Underway Web Site
    Sequoia 29k USS Sequoia (AG-23) under way on the Potomac River, date unknown.
    US Navy photo
    Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Sequoia 129k USS Sequoia (AG-23) under way on the Anacostia River off Washington, D.C., 17 November 1960. By this time the mast had been moved forward, the stack had acquired a shallow cap, the boat stowage had been modified, and the deckhouse had been extended aft.
    US Navy photo # KN-1130 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command, courtesy Shipscribe.com.
    Robert Hurst
    Sequoia 184k Pen and ink drawing of USS Sequoia (AG-23) underway, date unknown. Tommy Trampp
    Sequoia (AG-23)
    Sequoia 188k Sequoia passing in review, 4 July 1986, during the International Naval Review at New York City celebrating the centennial of the Statue of Liberty. She has been carefully restored to the configuration she had in the 1950s and 1960s.
    Defense Imagery photo # DN-ST-87 02477, courtesy Shipscribe.com.
    Robert Hurst
    MY Sequoia II
    Sequoia 1055k Ex-USS Sequoia (AG-23) travels down the Potomac River near Washington, D.C., 23 April 2003. The Navy Museum at Washington Navy yard hosted a crew reunion for former crew members of Sequoia during which family members had a chance for a cruise aboard the yacht. Sequoia served as the Presidential Yacht for 45 years before being sold by President Carter in 1977, Sequoia was home berthed at the Washington Navy Yard and served Presidents, Heads of State, and Foreign Dignitaries.
    US Navy News Service photo # 030423-N-0000X-001
    Robert Hurst
    Sequoia 102k Sea Scouts from the National Capital Area Council’s Sea Scout Ship 548 and from the York-Adams Area Council’s Sea Scout Ship 25, York, PA were invited to conduct the “piping the side” ceremony for distinguished guests boarding the Ex-Presidential Yacht Sequoia, 22 July 2003, and then join the official party for a two-hour cruise down the Potomac River.
    Photo #2 The Commodore "puts out the word" to the assembled Sea Scouts on how the event is to be handled
    Photo #3 SSS Yorkshire - Ship 25 Contingent: Sea Scout Recruit Carl Chindblom, Apprentice Amanda Klinedinst, Recruit Eagle Scout Greg Timmons, Recruits Alex Miller and Phil Accardo, and Skipper George Kain.
    Tommy Trampp
    Sequoia
    Photo #2
    130k
    Sequoia
    Photo #3
    121k
    Sequoia 83k Ex-USS Sequoia (AG-23) at her pier in the Washington Channel across from East Potomac Park, Washington, D.C., October 17, 2004. Photo by Ramon Jackson
    Sequoia 3110k Ex-USS Sequoia (AG-23) at Washington Marina, November 2008.
    Photo courtesy TCY (name unknown).
    Robert Hurst

    USS Sequoia (AG-23)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers / Officer in Charge
    01LT. Blue, John Stuart, USN (USNA 1925)25 March 1933 - 16 November 1933
    03CDR. Rosemont, Robert Kentno dates
    04LCDR. Campbell Jr., Robert Lord :RADMJune 1936 - September 1937
    05LT. Sears, Norman Walker1938 - ?
    06LT. Rice, Robert Henry :VADM1939 - ?
    07LCDR. Pratt II, William VeazieMay 1941 - January 1943
    08CAPT. Taylor, H. W., USN1950 - July 1951
    09CDR. MacDonald, W. R., USN (acting)July 1951 - August 1951
    10CAPT. Lyon, Percy Haverly, USNAugust 1951 - January 1953
    11CDR. Conner, Terrell Hoyt Woodward, USN (USNA 1937)January 1953 - September 1954
    12LT. Meanix Jr., William Henry, USN (USNA 1949)September 1954 - ?
    13LCDR. Bowling, Roland Alfred, USN (USNA 1946)1957 - ?
    14LT. Duckett, Ross Belton, USN (USNA 1954)1957 - 1958
    16CDR. Meek, Donald BagnallOctober 1959 - July 1962
    16LCDR. Ismay, Arthur Peter, USN (USNA 1951)July 1962 - June 1964
    17CDR. Beasley, Charles Jahns, USN (USNA 1957)June 1964 - ?
    18CDR. Combe, Andrew John, USN1971 - ?
    19LCDR. Beliech, Jr., Dewey Eldridge, USN (USNA 1968) 1975 - 19 May 1977
    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
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 5 January 2018