USS ''Zaca'' (IX-73) is a wooden-hulled,

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

-rigged

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

with an auxiliary engine.

History

She was commissioned by the self proclaimed explorer, Charles Templeton Crocker, to a design of Garland Rotch, and built by Nunes Brothers Boat and Ways Co. as a vessel for sailing around the world with all the modern conveniences of the time. When his new boat was completed in 1930 at

Sausalito, California Sausalito (Spanish language, Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, California, Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, California ...

, Crocker wasted no time in making full use of it, spending the 1930s sailing the Zaca around the world on various expeditions, primarily in the name of scientific discovery and on behalf of the

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

, where many of his records sit now. From the

Palmyra Atoll Palmyra Atoll (), also referred to as Palmyra Island, is one of the Line Islands, Northern Line Islands (southeast of Kingman Reef and north of Kiribati). It is located almost due south of the Hawaiian Islands, roughly one-third of the way bet ...

to the Galapagos, Crocker collected and documented plant and animal life with a small crew of scientists and artists, including noted photographer and Japanese artist, Toshio Asaeda.

World War II

Due to the need for local patrol and rescue craft in the busy waters in the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

area during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the schooner was acquired by the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

from

Templeton Crocker Charles Templeton Crocker (September 2, 1884 – December 12, 1948) was an American philanthropist, art patron and yachtsman. He was a past president of the California Historical Society and a member of the board of directors for over twenty years ...

on 12 June 1942. Placed in service on 19 June 1942 and assigned to the

Western Sea Frontier Sea Frontiers were several, now disestablished, commands of the United States Navy as areas of defense against enemy vessels, especially submarines, along the U.S. coasts. They existed from 1 July 1941 until in some cases the 1970s. Sea Frontiers ...

, ''Zaca'' was classified a miscellaneous auxiliary and designated ''IX-73''. She was the second ship of that name to serve in the US Navy, and operated as a plane-guard ship, standing ready to rescue the crews of any planes downed nearby. Eventually relieved by the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

s (PF's) of Escort Squadron 41, ''Zaca'' was placed out of service at

Treasure Island, California Treasure Island is an artificial island in the San Francisco Bay and a neighborhood in the City and County of San Francisco. Built in 1936–37 for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, the island's World's Fair site is a California Hist ...

on 6 October 1944; and her name was struck from the

Navy list A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

on 13 November 1944.

Errol Flynn

Turned over to the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime Co ...

on 21 May 1945, ''Zaca'' was acquired in 1946 by

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia ...

, an actor famed for his "swashbuckling" roles in numerous movies. ''Zaca'' is featured prominently in the 1947

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

film ''

The Lady from Shanghai ''The Lady from Shanghai'' is a 1947 American film noir directed by Orson Welles (uncredited) and starring Welles, his estranged wife Rita Hayworth, and Everett Sloane. It is based on the novel ''If I Die Before I Wake'' by Sherwood King. Altho ...

''. A documentary short film ''

Cruise Of The Zaca ''Cruise of the Zaca'' is a short documentary on 16mm about a trip taken by Errol Flynn in 1946 on his boat the '' Zaca'' to collect specimens with his father, Professor Theodore Thomson Flynn, an eminent marine biologist. The trip was done in as ...

'' which features Flynn and his father Theodore Thomson Flynn, an eminent marine biologist, collecting marine samples in the semi-tropics, was made in 1952 and has been shown on the

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...

TV channel. Flynn owned the yacht until his death in 1959.

Today

As of 2008, ''Zaca'' is privately owned by Roberto Memmo and berthed in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. A skipper and crew of four regularly sail ''Zaca'' to ports such as

Punta Ala Punta Ala (formerly Punta Troia) is a ''frazione'' of the town of Castiglione della Pescaia, in the province of Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy. The small town with a population of 402 people lies at the bottom of the northern hillsides of the promontory ...

Gaeta Gaeta (; lat, Cāiēta; Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a city in the province of Latina, in Lazio, Southern Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The town has played a consp ...

Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been ...

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

, and throughout the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...

. The ''Zaca'' is frequently seen at prestigious sailing races in the Mediterranean. Her winter port is in Port de Fontvieille, Monaco. In 2009, the Sailing Channel (now the

Nautical Channel In physical geography, a channel is a type of landform consisting of the outline of a path of relatively shallow and narrow body of water or of other fluids (e.g., lava), most commonly the confine of a river, river delta or strait. The word is c ...

) dedicated a program to the entire history of the ''Zaca'' from original construction to the present entitled "In the Wake of the ''Zaca''".

References

External links

* * * *
In the Wake of the Zaca
2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaca (IX-73) Unclassified miscellaneous vessels of the United States Navy Ships built in Sausalito, California 1930 ships