A deep red variety of the garnet, a semiprecious stone.
Happy Days, a yacht built in 1927 at Kiel, Germany, by the Rrupp Iron Works,was purchased by the Navy on 27 January 1942 from Ira C. Copely; converted at Long Beach, Calif, by the Craig Shipbuilding Company for naval service as a patrol vessel; renamed Almandite on 9 January 1942 and simultaneously designated PY-24; and placed in commission at San Francisco, Calif, on 25 April 1942, Lt. (jg.) A. J. Hopkins in command.
Almandite got underway for San Diego, Calif., on 28 April and left the west coast on 6 May, bound for Hawaii. She reached Pearl Harbor on 17 May and reported to the Hawaiian Sea Frontier for duty. The converted yacht patrolled the harbor entrance and escorted other ships on runs to other Hawaiian islands, Palmyra Island, and Johnston Island. She also served as a weather station in waters in the Hawaiian area.
The vessel operated in, and out of, Pearl Harbor for the duration of her naval career. On 2 November 1945, she got underway for San Francisco, Calif., and reached that port on 12 November. The ship was turned over to the Maritime Commission on 5 December 1945. Almandite was decommissioned at San Francisco on 22 January 1946, and her name was struck from the Navy list on 25 February 1946.
