In my many hours of reading through one Cruise Line’s website, sifting through special offers for this cruise to that destination, I stumbled upon some fascinating history involving a ship who was christened as the Hussar V. You may not recognize the ship, but you’ll recognize the names behind the commission to have her built: E.F. Hutton and Marjorie Merriweather Post Hutton. E.F. was wealthy at the time of their marriage, but Marjorie, being heiress to the C.W. Post cereal fortune, was even wealthier. They both loved yachting and were already enjoying the Hussar IV, which was the first yacht they owned together. Apparently at 202 feet and with 3 masts, the Hussar IV was not large enough for their liking.
In 1930-1931, Marjorie rented a warehouse in Brooklyn from which she would layout and design their new yacht, the 356 foot, 4-mast Husser V, the largest privately owned yacht in the world. There were to be working fireplaces, marble bathrooms, rare carpets, original paintings, walk-in closets for the 6 suites aboard, and 42 tons of refrigeration equipment below deck to carry thousands of pounds of frozen food. (By this time, BirdsEye Frozen Foods was also included in Marjorie’s portfolio.) When the Hussar V set sail in 1931, she had a crew of 72 and could travel 20,000 nautical miles on 4 diesel powered engines.
For 2 years, Hussar V sailed all over the world, often with the entire family accompanied by friends, and sometimes with just Marjorie and daughter (Nedenia) attended to by the 72 servants. 1935 brought a divorce to the Huttons, and Marjorie retained ownership of her beloved yacht, renaming it Sea Cloud.
It wasn’t just her yacht’s name that was about to change . . .
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