Famous Ships and Boats in History

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American Boats, Yachts, and Small Craft

A. J. Goddard — American paddle steamer
A Klondike Gold Rush era sternwheeler built for transporting men and supplies on the Upper Yukon River in Canada. She was not suited for the larger sections of the turbulent Yukon River, so instead she carried passengers and equipment across Lake Laberge. LAUNCHED: 1898 → FATE: Sank October 22, 1901.

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Admiral, SS — American river steamboat (cruise ship; converted to diesel in 1974)
Was the largest river cruise ship in the world, sailing the Mississippi River from St. Louis. In 1979 she was converted to a land-based casino. She started out as the side-wheeled steel hulled steamboat, the Albatross, then became the Admiral in the 1940s. LAUNCHED: 1907 → FATE: Dismantled and sold for scrap in 2011.

America — American racing yacht; schooner
Won the Royal Yacht Squadron's 53 mile regatta around the Isle of Wight, August 22, 1851. The international sailing trophy, America's Cup, is named after her. During the American Civil War, she served in the Union blockading squadron off Charleston, then after the war as a training ship at the Naval Academy. LAUNCHED: 1851, May 18 → FATE: In disrepair, her remains were burned in 1945 at Annapolis.

American Queen — American river paddle steamboat; stern-wheeler
Largest steamboat ever built, as of 2012. In 2012 she participated for the first time in the Great Steamboat Race and came in second. LAUNCHED: 1995 → FATE: Still in operation on the Mississippi River.

Argonaut — American cabin cruiser
The vessel used in the American TV series Sea Hunt, starring Lloyd Bridges about a free-lance scuba diver, airing 1958-1961. Several cabin cruisers were utilized in filming. One notable model was the Trojan Express custom built by Trojan Yachts in 1960. LAUNCHED: 1958 → FATE: Inconclusive.

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Arthur Foss — American tugboat
One of the oldest wooden-hulled tugboats afloat in the United States. She was cast by MGM to play in the 1933 movie Tugboat Annie. LAUNCHED: 1887 → FATE: Renovated and on display at Seattle's South Lake Union Park.

Belle of Louisville — American steamboat, paddle, stern-wheeler
Oldest continually operating river steamboat in the United States. She competes every year in the Kentucky Derby Festival event The Great Steamboat Race. LAUNCHED: 1914 → FATE: Restored in 1964, still in use at Louisville, Kentucky.

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Birthday Present — American super-yacht
Super-yacht used int the movie Overboard. The custom motor yacht was actually the Aspen Alternative built in 2010 by Trinity Yachts LAUNCHED: 2018, movie release; 2010 yacht built → FATE: Inconclusive.

Black Pearl — American yacht
The world's largest sailing yacht capable of running carbon free. Her sails consist of freestanding rotating masts with rigid yards that acts as square rigs. She can accommodate 12 passengers and features an on-deck Jacuzzi, swimming platform, and a tender garage. LAUNCHED: 2016 → FATE: In service.

Cairo, USS — American ironclad gunboat
First ship sunk by a naval mine and first vessel of the City class ironclads. Served with the Army's Western Gunboat Fleet during the American Civil War. Remnants of the gunboat are in a museum in the Vicksburg National Military Park. LAUNCHED: 1861 → FATE: Sunk by a naval mine in the Yazoo Riveron December 12, 1862.

Clermont — American river steamboat
First enduring and financially successful steamboat, running on the Hudson River. She was never known as Clermont at the time, but North River Steamboat. After it was lengthened and refitted in 1808 at Clermont, NY, it was named the North River. LAUNCHED: 1807, August 18 → FATE: Retired in 1814, then scrapped.

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Conception, MV — American dive boat
One of the worst maritime disaster in California with the loss of 34 passengers. The boat had been refurbished at a cost of more than $1 million following an incident in 2005 when it had been stolen and run aground. LAUNCHED: 1981 → FATE: Caught fire and eventually sank off the coast of Santa Cruz Island, California, September 2, 2019.

Eos — American three-masted Bermuda rigged schooner, built in Germany
The largest sailing yacht in the world with an overall length of 305 feet or 92.92 meters. With much of its length in the bowsprit, the length at the waterline is less than the Maltese Falcon. LAUNCHED: 2006 → FATE: Still in service.

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Floating Theater — American caravel
The first deliberately-planned showboat, created by British-born actor William Chapman, Sr.; replaced by a new steamboat with a stage and named Steamboat Theatre. In 1914, circus actors James Adams and his wife launched the James Adams Floating Theatre, a showboat that would tour the Chesapeake Bay. LAUNCHED: 1831, and 1836 → FATE: Both unknown.

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General Slocum — American river paddle steamboat, side-wheeler
Caught fire and burned to the water line in New York's East River on June 15, 1904 killing 1,021 people. She was named after Major General Henry Warner Slocum, 1827-94. LAUNCHED: 1891, April 18 → FATE: The remains were recovered and converted into a barge, which sank in a storm in 1911.

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Glomar Explorer — American deep sea research vessel
Built for a secret operation by the CIA to recover a sunken Soviet submarine, K-129 which was lost in April, 1968. She was converted into a deep sea oil drilling ship in 1997. LAUNCHED: 1972, November 18 → FATE: Currently operates as the GSF Explorer.

HD-4 — American hydrofoil
An early research hydrofoil watercraft developed by the Alexander Graham Bell. She set a world marine speed record of 70.86 miles per hour (114.04 km/h), that stood for almost a year. LAUNCHED: 1919 → FATE: Dismantled in 1921, laying for decades on the shore at Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia.

Higgins boat — American troop landing craft (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP)
Troop landing craft crucial to the Allied victories in World War II. Designed by Andrew Higgins, nearly 20,000 were build. LAUNCHED: 1935 → FATE: Only a few survive and are being restored.

Honey Fitz — American yacht
Presidential yacht was renamed after John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, maternal grandfather of President John F. Kennedy. The yacht saw service during World War II as a picket ship off Fire Island, New York. She also served as a training ship for submarine crews. LAUNCHED: 1931 → FATE: Still in service as a pleasure boat.

Joyita — American luxury yacht, outfitted as a yard patrol boat
Found adrift in the South Pacific, her passengers and crew mysteriously missing in 1955. She is sometimes referred to as the "Mary Celeste of the South Pacific." She has been the subject of several narrations offering explanations ranging from rational to supernatural. LAUNCHED: 1931 → FATE: Broken up near Ovalau, Fiji in the 1970s.

Kingston II — American tugboat
She assisted the launch of several U.S. Navy submarines including Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear submarine. Her ceremonial duties at the museum have included leading river parades of antique boats and welcoming visiting vessels from other nations. LAUNCHED: 1937 → FATE: On exhibit at Mystic Seaport Museum at Mystic, Connecticut.

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Majestic — American paddle steamboat, stern-wheeler showboat
The last of the original traveling showboats. Now the riverboat is a venue for comedies and musicals. LAUNCHED: 1920 → FATE: Currently docked at the Cincinnati Public Landing in Ohio.

Maltese Falcon — American full-rigged luxury yacht; now owned by a Englishman
The largest full-rigged luxury yacht in the world. She has 5 square sails on each of 3 masts that can be fully unfurled in 6 minutes. Some claim the Eos is larger. LAUNCHED: 2006 → FATE: Still in service.

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Mayflower, USS (PY-1) — American yacht
She served as a private yacht, merchant ship, presidential yacht, and warship in 3 wars. She had many owners, as well serving as a presidential yacht 1905-1929. She was finally purchased by Israel in 1950 and renamed INS Ma'oz. LAUNCHED: 1896 → FATE: Broken up in 1955.

Minnow, S.S. — American express cruiser
A fictional charter boat on the hit 1960s television sitcom Gilligan's Island. There were actually four different boats used on the show. (See Original S.S. Minnow Found for more.) LAUNCHED: 1964, for the TV series → FATE: Series ended in 1967.

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Normac, MS — American fire tug, later a ferry
Used as Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant, a floating restaurant in Toronto Harbour, from 1969-1981. She sank after being severely damaged when the ferry Trillium struck her in 1981. She was raised in 1986 and again refurbished as a restaurant as seen in "Another IMAGE". LAUNCHED: 1902 → FATE: Currently a floating restaurant in Toronto, Ontario.

Oneida — American yacht
W.R. Hearst's boat and site of the mysterious death of an American film producer that became a scandal and part of early Hollywood lore. The 2001 movie The Cat's Meow dramatized the fateful events on the yacht. LAUNCHED: 1897 → FATE: Sold as scrap August 21, 1940.

Panay, USS — American river gunboat
The USS Panay incident; on December 12, 1937, a Japanese bombing attack on this U.S. Navy river gunboat and three Standard Oil Company tankers on the Yangtze River. Two newsreel cameramen were present on Panay and filmed much of the attack and afterward from shore as Panay sank. See Newsreel. LAUNCHED: 1927, November 10 → FATE: Sunk in December 12, 1937.

Pilar — American fishing boat
Ernest Hemingway's fishing boat. Pilar was a nickname for the American novelist's second wife, Pauline, and the heroine in For Whom the Bell Tolls. LAUNCHED: 1934, April → FATE: On display at Hemingway's former home, Finca Vigía, near Havana, Cuba.

Proteus — American catamaran
First vessel of the wave adaptive modular vessel-type. Developed by Marine Advanced Research, she has been nicknamed "The Spider Ship" because four legs connect the superstructure to the outriggers. LAUNCHED: 2007 → FATE: In active service.

PT 109 — American motor torpedo boat
Commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy. The movie of the incident PT 109 was made with President Kennedy's approval provided the events be historically accurate, and the profits go to the survivors of PT 109 and their families. LAUNCHED: 1942, June 18 → FATE: Rammed and sunk in the Solomon Islands by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri on a moonless night, August 2, 1943 during World War II.

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PT-73 — American PT boat
Patrol boat in the TV sitcom McHale's Navy. The real-life PT-73 was built on August 12, 1942, and was destroyed by the crew in January, 1945. LAUNCHED: 1962, 1966 for the TV series → FATE: Inconlusive.

Riptide — American yacht
Boat in the TV series by the same name about two detectives. She was first shown at the 1938-39 New York Boat Show. LAUNCHED: 1939 → FATE: Restored and still in use as Southwind.

River Queen — American sidewheel steamer
Closely associated with President Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant while operating on the Potomac River during the American Civil War. In March 1865, Abraham Lincoln met with his generals aboard the River Queen to discuss strategy for the end of the Civil War. LAUNCHED: 1864 → FATE: Burn to the water line in 1911, July

Saluda — American river paddle steamboat, side-wheeler
Worst river steamboat accident in US; a tragedy for the Mormon Church. Over 100 passengers out of 175 were killed, including 28 Mormons. There were several dozen survivors. LAUNCHED: 1846, (sunk in 1847, raised and repaired) → FATE: Boilers exploded and destroyed the boat on the Missouri River near Lexington, Missouri, she sank April 9, 1852.

San Pablo — American gunboat
Featured in the movie Sand Pebbles starring Steve McQueen. After filming was completed, she was sold and renamed the Nola D, received significant modifications, and eventually used as a base camp for a seismic exploration company. LAUNCHED: 1966, movie release; actual ship September, 1895 → FATE: As the Nola D, she was taken to Singapore and scrapped in 1975.

Santana — American commuter yacht
The boat in the 1948 movie Key Largo, starring Humphrey Bogart. The boat used in the movie, with Bogart's character at the helm, was the name of Bogart's personal sailing yacht. LAUNCHED: 1926, probably → FATE: Unknown.

Sea Queen — American sport-fishing boat
Boat at the center of the movie The Breaking Point. This movie was based on Ernest Hemingway's novel To Have and Have Not which was made into an earlier movie with the same title, but in which the boat is called Queen Conch LAUNCHED: 1950 → FATE: Inconclusive.

Sequoia, USS — American yacht, 104-foot wooden
Served as the U.S. presidential yacht from 1933 until it was sold in 1977. She was purchased in 1931 by the U.S. Department of Commerce for Prohibition patrol and decoy duties. LAUNCHED: 1926 → FATE: Refurbished many time; now privately owned.

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Slo-mo-shun IV — American racing hydroplane
Winner of the 1950, 1952, and 1953 APBA Gold Cup Races; also set two straightaway speed records. Her hull was designed to lift the top of the propellers out of water at high speed, a technique called “prop riding,” which reduced drag. LAUNCHED: 1949, October → FATE: Wrecked in a pre-race test run in 1956; rebuilt and on exhibit at Seattle's Museum of History and Industry.

Staten Island Ferry — American passenger ferry boats
A fleet of eight ferry boats sailing free of charge between Manhattan and Staten Island in New York. On October 15, 2003, the Andrew J. Barberi collided with a pier killing eleven people and injuring many others; NYC's deadliest mass-transit incident in 50 years. LAUNCHED: 1819 → FATE: Still in service.

Walk-in-the-Water — American paddle steamboat, stern-wheeler with two masts
First steamboat on Lake Erie and the eastern Great Lakes. Two large paddle boxes amidship housed her paddle wheels. LAUNCHED: 1818, August 23, first voyage → FATE: Grounded on the beach south of Buffalo, NY, October 31, 1821.

Wanderer — American yacht
The boat in the 1992 comedy movie Captain Ron; starring Kurt Russell and Martin Short. The movie received mostly negative reviews. LAUNCHED: 1992 → FATE: Inconclusive.

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Western Flyer — American fishing boat
Known for its use by John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts in their 1940 expedition to the Gulf of California.. After Steinbeck's voyage, the ship was returned to commercial fishing, harvesting sardines, perch, and crab. Twice in 2012 the boat sprang leaks and sank and refloated each time. LAUNCHED: 1937, July 3 → FATE: Being restored to its historic glory by the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-Op.

World is not Enough — American super yacht
Fastest yacht in the world. She cruises at 50 knots and can reach speeds of up to 70 knots. LAUNCHED: 2005 → FATE: Still in use.

X-craft submarine — American miniature submarine
Deployed September, 1943 against German warships based in Norway. These midget subs would be towed to their target area by a full-size submarine. Of the 20 built, seven were lost, 12 scuttled or scrapped. LAUNCHED: 1943 → FATE: Only one has survive and is on display at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum.

The number of American Boats, Yachts, and Small Craft listed is 46

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For a full list of all ships, select HERE

First Ship on each page
Page	Ship Name (Country and Type)
1.	Admiral, SS (American river steamboat)
2.	Birthday Present (American super-yacht)
3.	Glomar Explorer (American deep sea research vessel)
4.	Mayflower, USS (PY-1) (American yacht)
5.	PT-73 (American PT boat)
6.	Slo-mo-shun IV (American racing hydroplane)

American Boats, Yachts, and Small Craft
1.	Admiral, SS American river steamboat
2.	America American racing yacht
3.	American Queen American river paddle steamboat
4.	Argonaut American cabin cruiser
5.	Arthur Foss American tugboat
6.	Belle of Louisville American steamboat
7.	Birthday Present American super-yacht
8.	Black Pearl American yacht
9.	Cairo, USS American ironclad gunboat
10.	Clermont American steamboat
11.	Conception, MV American dive boat
12.	Eos American three-masted Bermuda rigged
13.	Floating Theater American caravel
14.	General Slocum American river paddle steamboat
15.	Glomar Explorer American deep sea research vessel
16.	HD-4 American hydrofoil
17.	Higgins boat American troop landing craft
18.	Honey Fitz American yacht
19.	Joyita American luxury yacht
20.	Kingston II American tugboat
21.	Majestic American paddle steamboat
22.	Maltese Falcon American full-rigged
23.	Mayflower, USS (PY-1) American yacht
24.	Minnow, S.S. American express cruiser
25.	Normac, MS American ferry
26.	Oneida American yacht
27.	Panay, USS American river gunboat
28.	Pilar American fishing boat
29.	Proteus American catamaran
30.	PT 109 American motor torpedo boat
31.	PT-73 American PT boat
32.	Riptide American yacht
33.	River Queen American sidewheel steamer
34.	Saluda American river paddle steamboat
35.	San Pablo American gunboat
36.	Santana American commuter yacht
37.	Sea Queen American sport-fishing boat
38.	Sequoia, USS American yacht
39.	Slo-mo-shun IV American racing hydroplane
40.	Staten Island Ferry American passenger ferry
41.	Walk-in-the-Water American paddle steamboat
42.	Wanderer American yacht
43.	Western Flyer American fishing boat
44.	World is not Enough American super yacht
45.	X-craft submarine American miniature submarine

Famous Ships and Boats

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American Boats, Yachts, and Small Craft