Many thanks to Sea Cloud Cruises for providing documentation for this article.
See interior photos of Sea Cloud 2 (2001) , sister ship to the original Sea Cloud
She resembles the proverbial cat with nine lives, as the sailing yacht Sea Cloud, built in 1931 at the Krupp shipyard in Kiel, has had a chequered life, but she survived it all. Technical plans were drawn up by famous naval architects Gibbs &Cox. Christened Hussar, at the time she was the world’s largest privately owned luxury yacht. Businessman E.F. Hutton, well-known in Wall Street circles had commissioned her as a gift to his wife, Marjorie Merriwaether Post. She herself was a succesful business woman being the owner of General Foods Corporation, philantropist and very wealthy, being the heiress of a large fortune. She decided to dedicate all her available time to the ship to design the yacht’s interiors, which she actually did for the next two years. She even went as far as to rent a warehouse in Brooklyn to make a model of all seven cabins onboard, including the owners suite in their actual size!
The Hussar was used by the couple to travel around the world for pleasure but for business trips as well. Alas, Marjorie Merriweather Post’s marriage with Ed Hutton fell on hard times and they divorced in 1935. Ed Hutton agreed that the ship would pass on to his wife who loved the ship dearly. She decided to rename her Sea Cloud, symbolizing a fresh start.
Just three months after her divorce, MM Post married an old friend, Joseph E. Davies. He was a politician, diplomate and advisor to President Wilson and he introduced Marjorie to the world of politics. Davies became the US Ambassador in Moscow and the Sea Cloud was homeported in Leningrad. Marjorie invited many Soviet diplomats and even the Belgian and Swedish royal families on board Sea Cloud. Now Davies switched to become the US Ambassador in Belgium and their beloved yacht was repositioned there.
When WWII broke out, Marjorie and Joe offered the Sea Cloud for war duties. Before that they had already tried to sell their luxury yacht, but there were no interested parties. President Roosevelt at first rejected the vessel, he thought she was just too beautiful to send her to war, but soon he accepted. Sea Cloud was stripped of her rigging, masts and bowsprit as well as her luxurious interiors. Now painted grey she was taken over by the US Coast Guard. Armed with guns and anti-submarine weapons and renamed IX-99 she sailed to the Azores and started as a floating weather station.
On April 5, 1944, Sea Cloud crew spotted something on the radar looking like a submarine which could be the enemy so battle stations were manned but it proved to be false alarm.
In late 1944, Lieutenant Carlton Skinner took command of the ship. At that time, black seamen were only permitted to serve as ship stewards. After seeing a black man save the crew of the Northland but yet still being denied promotion because of this rule, Skinner proposed an experiment. He asked permission to sail from then on with a fully integrated Within a few months, fifty black sailors, including two officers, were assigned to Sea Cloud. After evaluation, his crew had proven to be highly effective, opening up better positions for black seamen.
Miraculously, Sea Cloud survived the war and in 1947 her restoration started. Her masts, rigging with new sails and luxurious interiors were reinstalled which took four years in all. Both Marjorie and Ed were enthusiastic to finally have her back and now used her mainly along the east coast of the USA. Many guests were entertained like in the old days, among them the dictator of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo.
Again, Marjorie tried to sell Sea Cloud and Rafael Trujillo, who had always been very impressed with the ship, ended up buying her in 1955. She was renamed Angelita after his daughter. dHowever, it was his son Ramfis who mainly used her her, inviting celebrities like Joan Collins and Zsa Zsa Gabor on board. In May 1961, a revolution took place in the Dominican Republic and its dictator Rafael Trujillo was assassinated. His family tried escaping the country on board the Angelita with his body on board and a huge amount of cash. They headed for Cannes but the new government ordered the crew to turn back. Renamed Patria, she waited five years for a buyer. Finally John Blue, CEO of Operations Sea Cruises located in Panama acquired her and she was renamed yet again to Antarna before being sent to Naples to be restored to her former glory. Upon her return financial problems forced her into lay up.
Finally a young lady (aged just 26) Stephanie Gallagher and her husband paid all outstanding bills and planned to use her as a floating university where students spent the final years of their studies at sea visiting remote places. Although John Blue still technically was her owner, they set sail anyway. Blue was furious and wherever she docked he was present to try retaking possession of his vessel. Finally in Panama, accompanied by policemen and lawyers he succeeded in boarding her. Tired of his continuous harassment the Galllaghers left the ship and never returned. The Antarna stayed in Panama, she was laid up in the port of Colon and in this warm and humid climate she deteriorated quickly over the next eight years.
But one men had not forgotten this gem of a ship. Hartmut Paschberg, economist and ship’s captain saw potential in the old sailing ship and succeeded in raising enough money to acquire her. He immediately renamed her Sea Cloud again. In October 1978 after having done the most needed wok, together with an adventurous crew of 40 he started a perilous voyage across the Atlantic to bring her to Germany. They made it and on 15 November 1978 they sailed into Hamburg harbour where she was welcomed by a cheering crowd. In February 1979 the old yacht was taken to Kiel and at the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG was completely overhauled at huge expense. This took eight months to complete but now she was finally ready to embark on her first cruise. She has been active as a cruise ship ever since. Sea Cloud was upgraded to meet the new SOLAS (safety of Life at Sea) requirements in 2010 – 2011. The 2532GRT, 96 meter long sailing ship now carries 64 to 69 passengers with a crew of 60 who operate her sails fully by hand.
Since then everyone who sees this majestic vessel under full sail is deeply impressed with her beauty. The same goes for her gorgeous interiors which remind of bygone era.
Nowadays she is owned by Sea Cloud Cruises from Germany. In February 2001 she was joined by a sister ship, Sea Cloud II and in 2021 by the slightly larger Sea Cloud Spirit.
