In August 1924, John H. French, a Detroit banker, industrialist, and yacht collector, hired D.B. Dobson of New Bedford, Ma. to design the fastest and most stable twin diesel yacht of the time. Later that year Mr. French contracted with Pusey & Jones, a well-known shipyard of Wilmington, DE, to transform Dobson’s design into one of the finest diesel yachts in America.

Please click here for the schedule of Miss Ann cruises.

Recognized in the 1920’s and 30’s as one of America’s finest shipbuilders, Pusey & Jones built many famous private yachts including the Acania, and the 294 foot Colleen, a diesel yacht built for collector Henry Gielow.

Made of a smooth Norwegian steel plated hull surface and the decks are made of 2 inch teak packed with cotton and caulked with a black rubber compound.

The mechanicals of the yacht were also of the finest and most modern construction of the period. Fifty inch bronze propellers are turned from the two 300 horsepower Winton six cylinder diesel engines.

On April 10, 1926 John H. French’s wife Elsie christened the hull of the luxury yacht Siele, an anagram of her first name. On that day, The Evening Post of Wilmington, Delaware read “The Siele embodies the last word in yacht design and construction for a yacht of her size.”

Mrs. French’s comfort was one of the driving forces behind the 127 foot yacht’s design and construction with the intention to make the ship so large and stable, that she would feel safe at all times. At a cost of over $200,000 to build in 1926, another $20,000 was spent by Elsie French to decorate the interior of the Siele.

Later that afternoon, Mr. & Mrs. French boarded the Siele in New York harbor for the maiden voyage. The voyage was scheduled to take them into the St. Lawrence at Halifax, through the canals into the Great Lakes, then home to Detroit. Along the way, as Mrs. French sat comfortably in a couch on the starboard side of the main salon, an unexpected storm hit the Great Lakes. A rogue wave caught the side of Siele causing her to broach. The narrow-beamed and deep ballast hull quickly righted itself but in doing so, “launched” Elsie French from her comfortable seat on the starboard side to the couch on the port side of the Main Salon.

Elsie French immediately went below deck and remained there for the remainder of the voyage. She emerged with her bags packed and personal maid following closely behind. After disembarking, she transferred to the comfort of a first class rail car and never again set foot aboard any ship again.

For years following the Great Lakes mishap, the Siele sat unused and was eventually brought to dry dock and sold to the Navy. On April 9, 1941 the vessel was commissioned the Aquamarine PYC-7 at the Washington Naval Shipyard with Lt. George Lange at the helm. Upon completion of a major refit on July 28, 1941 that included higher output diesel engines, a gyrocompass, complete coverage in Navy issue gray paint and two .30 caliber machine guns, the Aquamarine was assigned to the Naval Research Laboratory conducting underwater sound and communications experiments in the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River.

During the summer and fall of 1945, Aquamarine also served as tender to the presidential yacht Potomac (AG-25). When the Williamsburg (AGC-369) replaced Potomac as presidential yacht during the winter of 1945 the Aquamarine also served as tender.

After being decommissioned from active duty in 1946, retired Army Colonel Grimm purchased her with thoughts of a restoration and transport to his home in the Philippines. Unfortunately, the project proved to be too costly for Colonel Grimm and in 1952, E. A. Stephens made an offer to purchase the vessel. The hull was purchased for about $15,000 and did not include the Navy engines and gyrocompass that were removed and shipped to San Diego.

Stephens immediately traveled to New York to hire John H. Wells, a well-known yacht designer to add a modern look to the vessel. Included in the new design was a modern rake to the bow, a swept sheer line, twin factory rebuilt Cleveland diesel engines, and a fanned transom brought the yacht up to the cutting edge of the 1950’s. Under the battleship gray paint hid the treasure of all the beautiful wood of the 1920’s. Named after his wife Ann, the Miss Ann arrived at her new homeport in Irvington, Virginia in 1956.

Since April 11, 1993, the Miss Ann has carried thousands of Tides Inn guests on cruises up and down Carters Creek, the Rivah Country and the Chesapeake Bay!.