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NavSource Online: Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

Alabaster (PYc-21)



Call sign:
Nan - Baker - William - Mike
Coastal Patrol Yacht:

  • Built 1932 as the yacht Alamo by the Mathis Yacht Building Co., Camden, NJ for William F. Ladd of New York
  • Sold in 1934 to Lucius B. Manning, President of the Cord Automobile Corp.
  • Sold back to William F. Ladd in 1936
  • Renamed Rellimpa, Ranley and Ronaele
  • Acquired by the Navy 3 January 1942
  • Renamed Alabaster 13 January 1942, classified a Coastal Patrol Yacht and designated PYc--21
  • Converted for Naval service at Philadelphia Navy Yard
  • Commissioned USS Alabaster (PYc-21), 31 January 1942
  • Collided with an unidentified merchant ship 5 March 1942 while patrolling off Cape May, NJ, but damage suffered by neither ship was serious enough to hamper operations
  • Decommissioned 17 December 1945 and laid up at San Pedro, CA
  • Struck from the Naval Register 21 January 1946
  • Advertised for sale by the Maritime Commission in the 21 October 1946 edition of the Miami News
  • Transferred to the War Shipping Administration and sold 9 April 1947 to Lyman A. Whitney of San Diego, CA. This purchase was never completed. She was actually purchased by Col. C. S. Smith,
    USAR, Ret., who restored it as a private cruising yacht and renamed her Alamo in honor of his home city, San Antonio, Texas. It was featured in "Sea and Pacific Motor Boat" magazine and was the largest private yacht on the West Coast for many years. It was the actual setting for the No.1 rated television show in the 1960's, CBS's "Mr. Lucky" series, starring John Vivian, Ross Martin and Piper Laurie, music by Henry Mancini
  • Sold in 1960 to Enrique Braun of Acapulco, Mexico and renamed Fiesta II and was a harbor cruise vessel until 1982. It was the founding vessel of a fleet of "Yates (Yacht) Fiesta" in Acapulco - to this day one of
    the main attractions in Acapulco. In 1982 it was sold and towed to Puerto Vallarta to be converted to a floating restaurant. It burned and sank during conversion and its wreckage is now a popular scuba diving venue.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 385 t.
  • Length 148'
  • Beam 23'
  • Draft 8' 3"
  • Speed 14.5 kts.
  • Complement 48
  • Armament: One 3" mount, two .50 cal. machine guns, and two depth charge tracks
    1945 - One 40mm mount and five 20mm mounts
  • Propulsion: Two 375hp 6-cylinder Winton diesel engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Yacht Alamo
    Alabaster 810k Article from the November 1931 edition of The Rudder magazine Maunsel White
    Alabaster 56k Photo by Morris Rosenfeld
    USS Alabaster (PYc 21)
    Alabaster 83k c. July 1945
    At anchor in San Pedro Bay, Philippine Islands while at Navy Yard for modification. The 3" bow gun and .50 cal. machine guns were replaced by five-20mm guns and one-40mm on
    the stern
    From the collection of Vincent Balderston (ex-ChMoMM, USN) who served aboard Alabaster from January 25, 1942 until August 23, 1945    		 Ralph L. Givens
    Fiesta II
    Alabaster 193k Postcard Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 3 March 2020
    View the Alabaster (PYc-21)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Tom Bateman
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