Delving into her past became necessary in our search for proof of all ownerships, to secure documentation with the US Coast Guard. In the case of older vessels such as ours, 30 years at the time, it is a challenge, sometimes an impossibility, to find all the names, much less proof, in the form of bills of sale, Master Carpenter certificates, etc. After working diligently for a year and a half, we received documentation papers through the Norfolk, VA, Coast Guard Office of Documentation and Admeasurement, February, 1975.
These are some of the facts we unveiled: The Pious Puffin was built in Amsterdam by G. DeVries Lentsch, 1947-48. On the Master Carpenter’s Certificate are the words, “Person for whom built – Mrs. Doris Duke Cromwell – USA”. It is our understanding Mrs. Cromwell’s name appears mostly as a formality. In 1947 British subjects were not to spend foreign currency building a yacht abroad. So, she had come to the aid of a British friend who, having previously purchased a second hand Lemsteraak type yacht, wished to order a new, larger one after WWII
The name of this Britisher is Captain Cunningham Reid. He is the RAF pilot of WWI fame who became a hero when credited, by the British, with having shot down German Colonel Von Richthofen, the Red Baron
The Pious Puffin was first registered to Captain Reid at Gibraltar. Later she was registered to Globe Press, Panama, presumably by Russell Crenshaw, a public relations man from NYC. She was sold to Mrs. Josephine Forrestal, widow of James V. Forrestal, who was the first US Secretary of Defense. He had also been Secretary of the Navy, and Undersecretary of the Navy for the four years preceding. This fact, coupled with an error on the brochure claiming he once owned the Puffin, had me convinced this must be one of the safest ships afloat! Now that the facts are in, however, it is a safe bet he was never aboard her.
In 1966 Mrs. Forrestal presented the Puffin to Jones College, Jacksonville, Florida, in memory of her late husband. The college very graciously sent us a file of clippings, announcements,etc., which began what we hope will be a large collection of memorabilia. What could be more natural in restoring an old ship than to preserve her past?
Her next owner was William Seibert of Richmond, VA, from whom we purchased her in 1973. It is a sketchy history. While it served to fulfill documentation requirements, it left us filled with questions: Where are her logs; Where has she sailed; Have we missed any owners; How has she changed through the years? I’m really curious about every nail hole, of which there are many.