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Beaumere II (S.P. 444)

1917-1919

The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time of her acquisition, in modified form.

(S.P. 444: displacement 12; length 62'6"; beam 10'9"; draft 3' (mean); speed 22.5 knots; complement 5; armament 1 1-pounder, 1 Colt machine gun)

The wooden-hulled motor boat Beaumere II, built in 1914 by the Gas Engine & Power Co., and the Charles L. Seabury Co., of Morris Heights, N.Y., was acquired by the Navy on a free-lease basis from theatrical manager Edward Franklin Albee (1857-1930) on 29 June 1917.

Enrolled and ordered delivered on 18 July 1917, Beaumere, which, for some reason, was given a Roman numeral suffix “II” by the Navy since contemporary yacht registers list the boat as simply Beaumere, was designated as a section patrol craft and designated S.P. 444. She was commissioned at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y., on 22 October 1917, Chief Boatswain A. Anderson, USNRF, in command.

Attached to the Third Naval District, Beaumere II operated principally from the New York Navy Yard, the Barge Office at Battery Park, and the Marine Basin at Ulmer Park in Brooklyn, N.Y., as a despatch boat. She spent her entire naval career carrying passengers between various locations on the shores of the East and North Rivers, to Staten Island, and as far north as West Point on the Hudson. She interspersed these active operations and stand-by periods with upkeep at the Marine Basin. During portions of April, May, June and September of 1917, and again in January of 1919, she alternated with Get There (S.P. 579) as despatch boat at the Barge Office.

Among the naval officers transported numerous times by Beaumere II were Rear Adm. Cameron McRae Winslow, Inspector of Naval Districts on the Atlantic Coast, and Rear Adm. Nathan R. Usher, Commandant of the Third Naval District, and the latter’s chief of staff, Capt. Louis R. DeSteiguer, who was a frequent passenger. Other distinguished passengers included Vice Adm. DeWitt Coffman and his staff, on a trip from the New York Navy Yard out to the French cruiser Dupetit-Thouars on 27 June 1918; Maj. Gen. J. Franklin Bell, USA, who was embarked with a small party for an excursion up the Hudson to West Point on 1 September 1918; Adm. William S. Benson, the Chief of Naval Operations, whom Beaumere II transported to the transport Northern Pacific on 17 October 1918; and the Brazilian Ambassador to the United States Domicio da Gama and Elizabeth Volck Hearn da Gama, his wife, whom the boat took out to Pueblo (Armored Cruiser No.7) on 22 October 1918 for the start of that Latin American diplomat’s homeward voyage to Rio de Janeiro to become his country's Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Perhaps Beaumere II’'s most eventful trip occurred during the summer of 1918, when, with Capt. DeSteiguer embarked, she was en route back to the Barge Office at Battery Park on 10 July, when she encountered a heavy swell caused by the passage of an outward-bound battleship. Water entered the boat’s engine room through an open port, short-circuiting the port motor. Although hampered by having to proceed on one engine, the boat proceeded on her way and delivered her passenger to his destination none the worse for wear.

Ultimately proceeding to Pier 72, New York City, on 15 February 1919, Beaumere II was returned to her owner on 24 February 1919 and her name was stricken from the Navy Register simultaneously. Reverting back to her original name, Beaumere, she remained in Albee’s ownership through 1929, after which time she became the property of the Marine Sales & Service Co., of New York City. Her last owner appears to have been a Joseph White, through 1949, after which time the name Beaumere disappears from contemporary yacht registers.

Robert J. Cressman

Updated 19 October 2021

Published: Tue Oct 19 16:26:03 EDT 2021