History | |
---|---|
Canada | |
Name: | Blue Dolphin |
Owner: | S.H. Velie (Blue Dolphin Limited) |
Port of registry: | Shelburne, Nova Scotia, 1928-1935 |
Builder: | Shelburne Shipbuilders Limited |
Launched: | 1926 |
Fate: | Sold to Amory Coolidge, Boston in 1933 |
Notes: | official number 152577 |
United States | |
Acquired: | 17 March 1942 |
In service: | 6 April 1942 |
Out of service: | 28 June 1945 |
Struck: | 11 July 1945 |
Fate: | Sold |
General characteristics | |
Displacement: | 91 tons |
Length: | 99 ft 8 in (30.38 m) |
Beam: | 22 ft 5 in (6.83 m) |
Draft: | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
Speed: | 8 knots (15 km/h) |
Complement: | 8 |
Blue Dolphin was an auxiliary schooner built in 1926 at Shelburne, Nova Scotia by the Shelburne Shipbuilding Company as an adventure yacht. She served as US Navy auxiliary, IX 65 in World War II and as a postwar research vessel made famous by a Stan Rogers song.
Blue Dolphin was designed by the famous naval architect William Roue, designer of the famous racing schooner Bluenose. Sometimes called a sister ship to Bluenose, Blue Dolphin was in fact considerably smaller but reflected the overall style of Bluenose. Blue Dolphin was built for Stephen Henry Velie, Jr of Kansas City. A rich businessman interested in "long foreign voyages," Felie ordered a fishing schooner style vessel with an extra reinforced hull but luxurious cabins in place of a fishing hold. She was registered at Shelburne for the beginning of her career which her owner used as a base for adventure trips to the north.
In 1933, Blue Dolphin was purchased by Boston businessman Amory Coolidge (1895–1952) who transferred her registry to Boston, Massachusetts in 1935.
Blue Dolphin was designated a miscellaneous auxiliary, IX 65, and acquired by the Navy on 17 March 1942 from Amory Coolidge for the nominal fee of $1.00. She was designated a miscellaneous auxiliary, IX 65 and placed in service at the Section Base, Boston on 6 April 1942.
Blue Dolphin spent the next 38 months serving as station vessel at Casco Bay, Maine. Shortly after Germany surrendered, she was placed out of service at Boston on 28 June 1945. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 11 July 1945, and she was delivered to the Maritime Commission's War Shipping Administration for disposal on 14 September 1945.