The Life of an Extraordinary Lady, Part 3

It was Marjorie’s marriage in late 1935 to Joseph Davies that changed the destiny of Marjorie and Sea Cloud. Davies was assigned to the post of American Ambassador in Moscow in 1937. Marjorie and her Ambassador husband sailed the Sea Cloud to Leningrad where it served as an (almost) spy-free diplomatic headquarters. Sea Cloud was a show piece that Soviet dignitaries clamored to visit in order to get a clearer view of all things American. Additionally, Sea Cloud set the stage for meetings between Ambassador Davies and heads of state.

Sea Cloud would occasionally make trips back to the United States for various reasons. However, these voyages were becoming more dangerous with the run up to World War I, so she, her crew and family sailed away from Leningrad for the final time in June of 1938.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States government began acquiring private yachts for naval service. President Roosevelt, a good friend of Marjorie and Joseph, would not hear of commandeering such a beautiful yacht for dangerous work in the military. However, by 1942, the nation was in dire need of seagoing vessels, so Marjorie turned Sea Cloud over to the United States Coast Guard, symbolically renting her out for $1.00 per year.

Renamed again, this time, to IX-99, she lost her masts and her custom niceties below deck, and began her hitch in the military. Her territory was the vicinity of the Azores and south of Greenland, where she transmitted weather data to Arlington, Virginia, every 4 hours. She served honorably for 5 years. At the end of the war, all other private yachts were either destroyed or sold to the military. But IX-99, once again known as Sea Cloud, sailed for Florida where she underwent a four year ‘extreme makeover’ in which she was restored to her pre-war beauty. Marjorie was finally reunited with her prized Sea Cloud.
At least for a while . . .

The Life of an Extraordinary Lady, Part 2

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 . . .