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USS Potomac
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
USS Potomac
Location:	Oakland, California
Coordinates:	38°3′14.53″N, 122°8′8.02″W
Built/Founded:	1934
Added to NRHP:	February 20, 1987
NRHP Reference#:	87000068 [1]
Governing body:	City of Oakland

The USS Potomac (AG-25), formerly the USCGC Electra, was Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidential yacht from 1936 until his death in 1945. She measures 165 feet in length, 376 gross tons and is now preserved in Oakland, California, as a National Historic Landmark.

The USS Potomac was originally built in 1934 by the Manitowoc Ship Building Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin as the United States Coast Guard Cutter Electra. She was converted to serve as a presidential yacht and commissioned into the US Navy in 1936. In the following years, the USS Potomac was heavily used by President Roosevelt, for fishing trips and informal political meetings. In 1939 the United Kingdom’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth travelled with the Roosevelts aboard the USS Potomac to George Washington’s home at Mt. Vernon.

On the August 3, 1941, President Roosevelt left Washington to board the USS Potomac at the submarine base at New London. The USS Potomac then sailed for Appogansett Bay where the President did some fishing and entertained guests including Crown Princess Märtha of Norway. Eventually the USS Potomac anchored in Menemsha Bight in Vineyard Sound, where the heavy cruiser USS Augusta already lay at anchor. In the early hours of the August 5, the USS Potomac came alongside the USS Augusta and the President and his party transferred to the warship. The USS Augusta then proceeded at high speed to Newfoundland for a clandestine meeting with Winston Churchill. During this meeting, Roosevelt signed the Atlantic Charter, already signed by King George VI, agreeing the principles of the Allied partnership during World War II and setting the scene for the United Nations to plan the post-war peace.

In the meantime and for security purposes, the President's flag continued to be flown from the USS Potomac while she transited the Cape Cod Canal to New England waters. A Secret Serviceman, approximating the President in size and affecting his mannerisms when visible from a distance, played a starring role in the drama. Press releases issued daily from the USS Potomac led all who read them to believe that the President was really embarked in his yacht on a pleasure cruise. After the meetings, the USS Augusta returned the President to the USS Potomac on the August 14.

After President Roosevelt's death, the USS Potomac was decommissioned from the US Navy in 1945. She subsequently served with the Maryland Tidewater Fisheries Commission and was used as a ferry boat between Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. In 1964 she was purchased by Elvis Presley. By 1980 she was involved in drug smuggling and was seized by the US Customs in San Francisco. She sat in drydock in Sausalito for many years before being towed to Treasure Island, where she sank in 1997.

After being refloated by the U.S. Navy just two weeks later, the Potomac was sold to the Port of Oakland for $15,000 and underwent a major restoration. She is now preserved by the Potomac Association, and berthed adjacent to Jack London Square in waterfront Oakland. She is open to dockside tours and regular cruises on San Francisco Bay.

• The Potomac Association
• HNSA Ship Page: USS Potomac

• Potomac Association (2002). Association website. Retrieved September 7, 2004.
• Department Of The Navy, Naval Historical Center. USS Potomac (IV). Retrieved September 8, 2004.
• Wikipedia editors (2004). USS Augusta (CA-31). Retrieved September 8, 2004.

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