1917: The U.S. Navy’s First-Time Acquisition of a Recreational Yacht that Ultimately Served in Both World Wars

May 14, 1917

Just a little over a month after the United States entered World War I on the side of the Allied Powers, the U.S. Navy acquired the private yacht Sybilla III for use as a section patrol craft in the fight against the Central Powers. On the same day that she was acquired for naval service, this vessel was commissioned as USS Sybilla III (SP-104).

Sybilla III was designed by the Boston-based naval architect firm Swasey, Raymond & Page for Charles J. Davol (1868-1937) and built at the Robert Jacob Shipyard on City Island in New York City. A Rhode Island resident and avid sportsman, Davol served as president and treasurer of the Davol Rubber Company (now known as the Davol Company). This company, which his father Joseph Davol (1837-1909) helped establish in 1874, has been a long-time producer of medical devices made from rubber.

Charles J. Davol named his new yacht Paragon. This had been the name of a brig (a type of two-masted sailing vessel) that had been owned and used by his maternal grandfather Captain Joseph Turner (1800-1840). Davol’s yacht was launched on April 17, 1915, in New York City. Davol was accompanied to this event by his wife Lillian Almy Davol (1892-1952).

“A notable addition to the great fleet of motor yachts took her maiden dip today at Robert Jacob’s yacht yard at City Island,” reported the Boston Globe in its article about the launch. This newspaper also noted that the vessel “was christened by Mrs. Davol as she broke the customary bottle of champagne over the bow of the smart craft.”

Along with recounting the launch of Paragon, the Boston Globe highlighted various structural details about this yacht. “The boat is an offshore cruiser, and so constructed that she will weather the most severe storms,” the newspaper stated. “Her gasoline capacity givers her a cruising radius of 1000 miles [1,609.3 kilometers] and the engines develop 600 horsepower [608.3 metric horsepower].”

Davol did not remain owner of Paragon for long, however. The following year, he sold it to Philadelphia-area resident John Fred Betz, III (1880-1954). Betz was the scion of a prominent brewing family. In addition, he was a highly regarded yachtsman whose other transportation-oriented pastimes included flying the Curtis airplane that he owned.

The yacht that Betz purchased from Davol was renamed Sybilla. This was the third vessel in the Betz family to bear that name. The original Sybilla was a steam-powered yacht that had been owned at least as far back as 1887 by John F. Betz Jr. (1856-1910), the father of John Fred Betz, III.

John F. Betz Jr. used Sybilla I extensively for a wide range of leisure activities both within and well beyond the Philadelphia region. The April 1899 issue of Recreation magazine, for example, reported how he and several of his friends would travel on board the yacht each year to visit Florida to engage in bird hunting and other outdoor pursuits there.

Sybilla II was a motor vessel constructed in 1911 for John Fred Betz, III, by the Mathis Yacht Building Company in Camden, New Jersey. This vessel was likewise acquired by the Navy for service during World War I. She was commissioned as the section patrol yacht USS Tacony (SP-5).

During her own service throughout that war, USS Sybilla III was used for offshore patrol duty within the Fourth Naval District. This district, which had been established in 1903, encompassed Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the southern part of New Jersey. (The accompanying photo of Sybilla III was taken during this time.) The vessel remained in military service until more than a month after the armistice ending the war took effect. Sybilla III was returned to Betz on December 24, 1918.  

After reacquiring Sybilla III, Betz resumed using the yacht for various trips both short and long. One of the trips in the latter category involved one to Florida in February 1924, A headline in the Miami News announced, “John F. Betz, Wealthy Brewer, Arrives on Unique Yacht Sybilla III.” This article, noting how the vessel was “painted a dazzling white with a gold service stripe on the forward funnel,” proclaimed that the “boat has been converted into a handsome yacht with comfortable appointments.”

Betz remained the owner of Sybilla III until selling her to Romaine Livingston Sullivan (1892-1970), a bank president and fellow Philadelphia-area resident. Sullivan renamed the yacht Arlis. On August 12, 1940, Sullivan sold Arlis to the Navy nearly a year after World War II had begun overseas and about 16 months before the United States entered that global conflict on the side of the Allies.

Arlis was commissioned as the submarine chaser USS PC-454 on October 16, 1940.  The following month, this vessel began patrolling the approaches to the Panama Canal. Between then and August 1944, she was also deployed for escort and antisubmarine duties off the entire coast of Central America. It was during this period that she was reclassified as coastal patrol yacht USS Impetuous (PYc-46).

On August 27, 1944, this vessel was decommissioned. She was sold by the War Shipping Administration on June 14 of the following year. Her final fate is unknown.

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on the vessel designated as USS Sybilla III (SP-104) during World War I, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Impetuous