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NavSource Online:
Patrol Yacht Photo Archive

INS Maoz (K 24)
ex-USS Cythera (PY 31)

Call sign:
Nan - Baker - William - Peter

Cythera served the Navies of the United States and Israel

Patrol Yacht:

The second Cythera was built in 1931 as Argosy by Germaniawerft, Kiel, Germany

Purchased by the Navy 14 July 1942

Commissioned USS Cythera (PY 31), 26 October 1942

Decommissioned 3 January 1944 and placed in service

Placed out of service 14 March 1946 at New York

Transferred 6 November 1946 to the Maritime Commission for disposal

Sold in 1946 to the Thyne Shipping Co.

Renamed Abril

Renamed Ben Hecht

Placed in service in 1948 with the Israeli and renamed INS Maoz (K 24)

Sold in 1956 to an Israel businessman and renamed Abril

Acquired by Navigazione Libera di Golfo of Italy, renamed Santa Maria del Mare and served as a ferry in the Gulf of Naples

Sold in 2008 was refitted, repainted, refurbished and remade into the luxury private yacht she once was and put up for sale for 15,000,000 Euros

Renamed Rossy One

Fate unknown.

Specifications:

Displacement 800 t.

Length 205' 7"

Beam 30'

Draft 10' 10"

Speed 15 kts.

Complement 74

Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount

Propulsion: Two 1,800bhp Atlas diesel engines, two shafts.

Click on thumbnail for full size image	Size	Image Description	Source
USS Cythera (PY 31)
	49k	.	.
	41k	.	.
MV Abril
	38k	c. October 1946 Anchored in Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal before undergoing repairs	.
	196k	.
	56k	.
MV Ben Hecht
	23k	8 March 1947 Being intercepted by British destroyer HMS Chieftain (R 36)	.
INS Maoz (K 24)
	149k	Italian 76-mm gun from INS Maoz (K-24) in the Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum, Haifa, Israel	.
	147k		.
Motor Yacht Rossy One
	88k	.	.