Name Samona II Launched 1931 | Owner Willitts J. Hole Length 45 m | |
Builder Craig Shipbuilding Company, Long Beach, California Homeport Los Angeles, California Identification Official number231094
Signal lettersWFEN | ||
USS Amethyst (PYc-3), formerly named Samona II, was a yacht in the United States Navy and served as a patrol boat during World War II.
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Amethyst was built in 1931 by Craig Shipbuilding Company, Long Beach, California; purchased by the Navy on 4 November 1940 from the estate of Willitts J. Hole, a prominent financier of Los Angeles, California; converted for naval service by Craig Shipbuilding; and commissioned on 27 February 1941, Lt. H. Reich in command.
US Navy service
The ship was assigned to the Inshore Patrol, 11th Naval District, and helped to patrol the entrance to Los Angeles Harbor. After the United States entered the war, the yacht expanded her role to include escorting vessels and convoys as well as carrying local passenger traffic.
On 1 April 1943, Amethyst was attached to the Surface Task Group, Southern Section, San Pedro, California, and continued her patrol duties off the southern California coast through January 1944. She was decommissioned on 2 February 1944.
US Coast Guard service
Placed back in commission on 19 April 1944 and manned by a Coast Guard crew, Amethyst reported to the Western Sea Frontier section base at Treasure Island, California. Through the end of 1945, the ship maintained plane guard station, collected weather data, and carried out antisubmarine and antiaircraft coastal patrols.
Decommission
Amethyst was finally decommissioned at San Diego, California, on 27 February 1946. Her name was struck from the Navy List on 12 March. She was transferred on 11 September to the Maritime Commission for disposal.
She was subsequently sold to Samuel K. Rindge (son-in-law of Willits J. Hole) of Los Angeles and resumed the name Samona II and served as a yacht. Purchased in the early 1950s by David P. Hamilton of Shreveport, Louisiana, she served him under the name Pudlo until sold in 1962 to Clarene Y. Martin of Houston, Texas, and renamed Explorer. As of 2000, she was still reported to be in use along the Gulf Coast.