in doing research for Part 2 in this series, I was planning to make mention of the very large yachts
that were built in the 1920s and the 1930s. But as i got into it, it turns out that we're going
to have to spend a little bit more time on this era because it is extremely interesting. This is
almost 100 years ago and American and European yachtsmen (and women) were building vessels
over 200 feet that were absolutely stunning and spectacular. The parallels are very interesting.
At that time there was a class of very wealthy individuals who paid virtually no taxes, and who
had almost unlimited amounts of money which they could do anything with. And in some sense,
they were competing with each other and building these yachts and going on these expeditions.
It's not all that dissimilar from this sudden space-race between Branson and Bezos and Musk,
trying to establish themselves as the ultimate adventurers.
So let's have a look at the Vanderbilts the Astors and certain European vessels that
were built during this epic period between the Wars. Prior to the stock market crash of 1929,
a staggering number of very large mega yachts were ordered from the top shipyards of the world. First
of this generation was the 263 foot NOURMAHAL, ordered by 34 year old Vincent Astor from the
Krupp shipyard in Kiel, Germany. The NOURMAHAL stands up well next to any of the newer yachts
today with a maximum cruising speed of 13.7 knots from her 3,200 horsepower; delivering a range of
12,700 miles. However economy cruising at eight knots she could achieve a 23,500 mile range.
And yes, batteries were also an important item on yachts in the 1920s and 30s, as evidenced by
this ad for batteries aboard the yacht NOURMAHAL. In 1930 the 262-foot REVELER was delivered to the
Russell Alger family. He was a lumber baron and a vice president at Packard Motor Cars. She has
been rebuilt and renamed many times and some of you may recognize her now as the charter yacht
Talitha G. The 300-foot NAHLIN was built in the U.K. and delivered in 1930 to Lady Yule, who was
known to be a big game hunter a horse breeder and a film financier. She and her daughter enjoyed
a cruise to Miami, New Zealand and Australia before she sold it on the eve of world war ii
to King Carol ii of Romania. Yacht broker Nicholas Edmiston rescued her from the Danube in 1998,
where she was being used as a floating restaurant. Lovingly restored at Blohm+Voss she is now back in
full service. That same year Banker J.P. Morgan launched his fourth Corsair, the 343 foot yacht,
at Bath Iron Works in Maine at a cost of two and a half million dollars. Morgan preferred
sleek and dark hulled yachts that could attain speeds of 19 or 20 knots. This was achieved by
steam turbine generators that drove motors delivering over 6 000 horsepower.
After service in World War II the vessel was converted into a luxury cruise ship
with 42 staterooms. In 1949 the ill-fated vessel struck a rock in Acapulco and started to sink.
The captain decided to beach her. All passengers and crew were able to get
off with no loss of life, but the vessel was abandone. In 1931 the Royal Yacht Daneberg,
257 feet, was delivered to Queen Alexandrina. Krupp delivered this 232 footer to American banker
Charles Stone, who somehow still had a lot of money after the crash. William K. Vanderbilt
ordered this 274 foot yacht while he was circumnavigating the globe on his previous yacht.
Vanderbilt was actually a former naval officer and commanded his own vessels with an unlimited
master's license. And that brings us to this extraordinary 360-foot yacht built by Krupp for
Marjorie Merriweather Post and her banker husband E.F. Hutton in 1931. Like many of these vessels,
Sea Cloud went into military service during World War II - first for the Coast Guard and later for
the U.S. Navy, and today she is back in service, fully restored, as a very swanky cruise ship.
The largest yacht delivered in 1931 was the 446-foot Savarona from Blohm+Voss.
Delivered to Mrs Cadwalader and, legend has it that this lady, who had owned a series of yachts,
ordered this one over the telephone. In 1938, with war looming, she sold the vessel to the
Turkish government to service the presidential yacht for Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Let's do a price
check on yachts at that time. Mrs Cadwalader paid $4 million for Savarona which would be $87 million
today. The replacement cost for this vessel would probably be about $446 million. In 1930 and 1931,
as America entered the Great Depression, over half a mile of new mega yachts were delivered.
Replacement costs today would probably be about two billion dollars. In looking at
how these yachts were used, it becomes clear that their mission included global exploration
and expedition. Two interesting examples are the Astor and Vanderbilt yachts which were built by
the heirs to the robber baron fortunes who often competed against each other. Again, much in the
same way that the billionaires are now trying to be pioneers in space. Vncent Astor became a
yacht owner at the age of 20 when his father died while returning from a honeymoon in Europe with
his new 18 year old wife aboard the ill-fated Titanic. After the U.S. entered World War I in
1917, Vincent loaned Noma to the U.S. Navy and served aboard the vessel as a junior officer.
Re-outfitted with heavy guns and depth charges, the Noma is credited with a number of attacks
on German u-boats. The star on the forward stack denotes a u-boat sunk by the Noma. And so Vincent
Astor was an experienced naval officer when he had the Nourmahal designed and ordered it built at the
Krupp shipyard in Kiel, Germany -which likely was the shipyard that built most of the German
warships that he was hunting during World War I During the 1930s Vincent made four scientific
expeditions to the Galapagos Islands bringing back a number of specimens things like penguins
tortoises iguanas and a large botanical collection that is now housed at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
The Nourmahal was in Miami in 1933, between trips to the Galapagos, when Franklin D Roosevelt was
delivering a speech in Bayfront Park. At fairly close range, this fellow emptied his revolver
at the President, but missed. President Roosevelt was invited by his childhood friend Vincent Astor
to seek refuge aboard the Nourmahal. That summer, Vincent Astor picked up President Roosevelt at his
Hyde Park estate on the Hudson. The Normahal took the two men to Montauk. The Normahal was
trailed by two U.S. Navy destroyers as escorts and flew the official presidential flag. So FDR
could spend the day fishing, which he loved to do. For Roosevelt, Nourmahal was now the presidential
yacht. As Commander-in-Chief, he would summon naval officers to the Nourmahal for meetings.
He watched the Americas Cup races from the upper deck of the Nourmahal and during a fishing trip to
The Bahamas, he entertained the Duke and Duchess of Kent and had diplomatic meetings with the
Governor of The Bahamas. When war broke out, as Vincent had done with Noma in the First World War,
he lent his yacht- Nourmahal to the U.S. military. Vincent was called to active duty with the rank of
Commander. He coordinated merchant convoys leaving New York to support the war in Europe. Nourmahal
remained in government service until she was laid up in the reserve fleet and finally sold
to a scrapper in Maine in 1964. Not to be outdone by an Astor, William K. Vanderbilt launched his
270-foot yacht Alva a year after 263-foot Nourmahal had been launched. Like Vincent Astor,
William Vanderbilt had also served as a naval officer in World War I and spent years designing
and building his yacht Alva. He traded his old yacht with a Miami Beach developer named Fisher
in exchange for Fisher's Island, where he also built a seaplane base. Alva also could accommodate
a twin-engine seaplan. He and his wife immediately set off on a seven-month circumnavigation.
There were five guests on board and 151 crew - which included a film crew and marine scientists.
The vessel was outfitted to a style and comfort level
that the Vanderbilts were accustomed to. Vanderbilt, as an experienced naval officer,
did the navigation and commanded the vessel from the bridge himself.
During the seven month voyage, he was able to stay in touch with his New York offices
and run his businesses thanks to his radio room, which was equipped with the latest technology.
His multiple scientific expeditions not only filled his own marine museum, but
were shared with many other institutions. A month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Vanderbilt gave
the Alva to the U.S. Navy and she was converted into a gunboat. On the evening of August 5th
1943, the Alva was escorting a ship convoy 120 miles southeast of Cape Henry, Virginia. Their
underwater sonar detected a movement and just as the ship swung left to bear in to the target, she
was struck just abaft of the bridge. The ship took a heavy list to port just as the entire port side
forward of amidship's burst into flames. She sank within two minutes. Of the 179
officers and crew on board only 84 survived. And that wraps up part two in this series on
the history of expedition yachts. There's a lot of material there. I'm going to have to go back
and just do segments on these individual yachts. I learned so much doing this a little bit of
research that I didn't know about these vessels. We're going to move on to Part 3, which is abut
the expedition yachts which are primarily conversions that were done in the 80s and
90s. They were converting commercial vessels that were built in the 60s 70s and sometimes 80s. This
is a more recent generation of expedition yachts. Most of these vessels are still in service and
they're highly sought after in the charter market and hold their value very well in the expedition
brokerage market. I look forward to seeing you for Part 3 and hope that you will join me then.