The opening highlight of Fleet Week is the parade of ships under the Golden Gate Bridge. And one of the annual participants, the USS Potomac, is a ship with a colorful past and a connection to one of the most pivotal moments in the nation's history.
There are a number of boats offering Bay cruises, but one of them also transports passengers on a trip back in time. When the USS Potomac slips its berth at Jack London Square and heads out through the Port of Oakland, it carries with it the legacy of a man who led the nation through some of its darkest times. The man was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Potomac served as his personal yacht and getaway.
"He would go out on weekend fishing trips, weekenders, and on afternoons he'd just go and sit out on the ship. It was his way of having respite from the pressures of the White House and the presidency," said Jennifer Pettley, Executive Director of the USS Potomac Association, the non-profit that owns and operates the ship.
The Potomac features a dining room in which FDR would welcome guests, officials and even a few heads of state. His private quarters include a bathtub specially built to accommodate the president's severe disabilities from polio, something that most Americans were unaware of.
"Because when they would see him, he was always standing and someone was next to him, really holding him up," said Pettley. "It was a great effort for him to do that, and it was an image that he wanted to project at the time. They wouldn't be able to get away with something like that today."
But they weren't all pleasure cruises. In 1941, a year before the US entered WWII, the Potomac transported FDR, under the guise of a fishing trip, to a secret meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill where they created the Atlantic Charter, laying out the goals of a post-war world, which eventually led to the formation of the United Nations.
"Grant us victory over the tyrants who would enslave all free men and nations!" said FDR after it was signed. "Let us march toward the clean world our hands can make."
After FDR passed away, the ship fell largely out of sight. In 1964, Elvis Presley bought it as a publicity stunt to donate to charity. He reportedly had a hard time finding anyone who wanted it and eventually, with cameras rolling, presented a set of keys to Danny Thomas, founder of St. Jude's Children's Hospital, who said he intended to sell it immediately.
Incidentally, the ship doesn't actually use keys. From there, it pretty much disappeared until, in 1980, it was discovered with several other ships smuggling $40 million of marijuana into San Francisco. After that, it sank, was raised, and spent years rusting away until it was eventually saved and fully restored by the Port of Oakland. It's a history that can be learned with a Bay cruise, but first you have to get out onto the water.
"Traffic, Potomac underway!" said Tom Howard as the ship backed out of its berth across from the Jack London ferry terminal. Howard is the senior captain of the ship, and for 11 years he's been taking passengers out on weekend tours of the Bay. But it's not the only hat he wears. On most days you can find him in grungy overalls, working deep within the ship to keep the antique engines and controllers in ship shape. You won't find another ship with exactly the same hodge-podge of equipment anywhere in the world.
"This is like stepping back thirty years in the mechanical era, if not 40 or 50," said Howard. "So, It's all very intriguing to me to work on this old vessel."
And it's intriguing to ride on, as well. Along with unique views of familiar Bay landmarks -- The Golden Gate and Bay Bridges, the SF waterfront, Alcatraz and Angel Islands, guests can sit on the rear sofas on the fantail, where FDR once sat, and ponder the legacy of the man who guided the country through dangerous economic and war-torn times. Howard said there is still a fascination with FDR more than 80 years after his death.
"Yes, there still is. I mean, look at what the man did. Look what he did just in the Bay Area. The bridges, the WPA, all the Conservation Corps. He got us out of a depression. There's a time and place for everything and he just happened to be there at that time," said Howard. "I happen to be here at this time. This is my last career. I'm old enough that after I do this, I'm hanging it up," he said with a laugh.
So, FDR may not be the only one that the USS Potomac will outlive. And in a small way, its history is being rewritten every day by those who work or sail aboard her.
The USS Potomac Assn. offers paid, docent-led tours on Wednesdays and Sundays. But on Oct. 10, the Saturday of Fleet Week, the public can tour the ship for free.
