(IX-17 [sic; YX-17; IX-17 was the old Monadnock (ex-BM-3)]: tonnage 28; length 65-11--; beam 11-10--; draft 3-3- (hull), 11- (centerboard); armament none)
A devoted yachtsman and friend of the Navy, the late Robert Center, formerly owned this yacht. His mother, Mrs. Mary E. Ludlow of New York, requested that it be named for him when she presented it to the U.S. Naval Academy.
Robert Center, a wooden, sloop-rigged racing cutter, was built in 1883 as the private yacht Medusa by George Lawley & Sons, Neponset, Mass.; presented to the U.S. Naval Academy as a gift in 1895 by Mrs. Mary E. Ludlow of New York, N.Y.; and accepted 24 May 1895 for U.S. Naval service.
Robert Center served her entire Navy career as a sail training vessel at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. She was designated YX-17 on 17 July 1920 as an unclassified district craft. Struck from the Navy list 4 January 1933, Robert Center was sold 24 March 1933 to Paul G. Swars of New York, N.Y., remaining on yacht registers into the 1940s.
14 October 2005
