''Geoanna'' was a steel auxiliary schooner built in 1934 by

Craig Shipbuilding Company '' Light Vessel No.57'' at Toledo, Ohio Craig Shipbuilding was a shipbuilding company in Long Beach, California. To support the World War I demand for ships Craig Shipbuilding shipyard switched over to military construction and built: US ...

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. ''Geoanna'' was requisitioned 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 opposing ...

for service briefly with the U.S. Navy before transfer to the U.S. Army for Southwest Pacific operations. There ''Geoanna'' served as a

United States Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Ma ...

communications ship with a mixed United States Army, Navy and Australian civilian crew through the New Guinea and Philippine campaigns. The ship remained in the Philippines after post war disposal.

Pre War

''Geoanna'' was designed by George L. Craig and built at the Craig shipyard as hull number 155 with ownership vested in the George L. Craig Trust. Registry information shows the yacht registered with official number 234117, a gross tonnage of 122, net tonnage 90, registered length of , breadth, and depth of . Original crew was stated as five. The yacht on the 31 July 1935 trial cruise, with George Craig and nephews James G. Craig and John Craig II as well as local yachtsmen, was rigged with a Marconi mainsail and

gaff-rig Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails, mast and stays) in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the ''gaff''. Because of the size and sha ...

foresail with sail area. The yacht, with a waterline length of had a 150-horsepower auxiliary diesel engine, fuel capacity for 2,000-mile (unit type not stated) cruising radius and accommodations for ten persons. ''Geoanna'' was described as the "largest and most costly steel sailing yacht built on the Pacific Coast" in years. In 1938 ''Geoanna'' was sold to the Seven-Up Bottling Co. of Los Angeles. The yacht is shown as registered with call letters WNAP. Donald K. Washburn, president of the company, sailed the yacht in races that included the 1939 Trans-Pacific race from San Francisco to Diamond Head, Honolulu, Hawaii. ''Geoanna'' was the largest yacht in the race and was one of two yachts broadcasting daily progress by shortwave radio. When requisitioned the yacht was the property of the Seven-Up Bottling Co. of Los Angeles. The company had bought the vessel from the original owner in 1938 for $60,000 and made some updates at additional cost before requisition. ''Geoanna'' was requisitioned 1 February 1942 for war service by the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

. 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 C ...

had set a just value of $20,000, of which $15,000 was paid.

World War II

On 1 February 1942 the vessel was acquired by the U.S. Navy from the

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

and placed in service 19 February 1942 as the

unclassified miscellaneous vessel The IX (unclassified–miscellaneous) hull classification symbol is used for ships of the United States Navy that do not fit into one of the standard categories. Similar lists of 'miscellaneous' ships can found at : and :. Ship status i ...

''Geoanna'' (IX-61). ''Geoanna'' was never commissioned and thus never bore the USS designation. The vessel was assigned to the 11th Naval District performing miscellaneous duties for Port Director,

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; Spanish: "St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...

. On 2 July 1943 ''Geoanna'' was turned over to the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

for service as a Coast Guard operational training ship until being redelivered to the Maritime Commission by the Navy 28 August 1943. The

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

acquired ''Geoanna'' on 3 September 1943 for service in the

Southwest Pacific Area South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the ...

. That command modified the vessel as a communications ship for use by the Army Signal Corps. On 12 December 1943 the ship became part of the Army operated radio communication fleet joining the other sailing ships ''Volador'' and the previously operating, Australian registered vessels, ''Harold'' and '' Argosy Lamal''. A crew of mixed Army, Navy and Australian civilian personnel operated these predecessors of the CP, or Command Post, ships in the Port Moresby, Woodlark and Laee-Salamau areas. ''Geoanna'' was given the Army designation of TP-249. The ship served as a communications relay during operations of the

Western New Guinea campaign The Western New Guinea campaign was a series of actions in the New Guinea campaign of World War II. Dutch East Indies KNIL, United States and Australian forces assaulted Japanese bases and positions in the northwest coastal areas of Netherl ...

into the

Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...

through landings at

Tacloban Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban ( war, Syudad han Tacloban; fil, Lungsod ng Tacloban), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. The city is autonomous from the province of Leyte, ...

in the Philippines.

Post war

After the war in ''Seven-Up Bottling Co. of Los Angeles, Inc., V. United States'' the United States Court of Claims set the yacht's value at $30,000 when requisitioned and ordered payment of the additional $15,000. The ship remained in the Philippines after the war, was reportedly undergoing restoration and subject of additional lawsuits as late as 2009.

References

External links

Small IX: Auxiliary Schooners etc. (1)
(Stephen S. Roberts in ShipScribe)

at Navsource.org
Army schooner Geoanna (TP-249) image

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geoanna Ships of the United States Army South West Pacific theatre of World War II Unclassified miscellaneous vessels of the United States Navy Schooners of the United States Navy Ships built in Los Angeles 1934 ships