The “Floating White House” Bermuda Visit

A one-time presidential yacht once known as “the floating White House” which famously brought Harry S. Truman to Bermuda on an unscheduled holiday in 1946 is rusting away in an Italian shipyard and will likely be scrapped, the UK “Daily Mail” reports..

Built in 1930, the USS “Williamsburg” is currently moored at La Spezia, where her owners say she is likely to sink in the next few years and will then be cut up for scrap.

However, a retired Italian seaman named Gianfranco Oddone is now campaigning to rescue the ship from her fate, and is seeking a buyer to restore the “Williamsburg” to its former glory.

Having once been an exchange student in President Truman’s home town in Missouri, he is passionate about refurbishing the presidential yacht and  returning it to the US.

The one-time presidential yacht USS “Williamsburg” sits rusting in a shipyard in La Spezia, Italy

Originally a private yacht the “Williamsburg” served as a US Navy gunboat during World War Two [1939-1945].

Following the Allied victories over the Axis powers, the 243-foot “Williamsburg” became Mr. Truman’s official yacht until the end of his administration in 1953.

On August 16, 1946 Mr. Truman [1884-1972] embarked on a cruise aboard the “Williamsburg” — his first real non-working vacation since the former Vice-President assumed office on April 12, 1945 on the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

President boards the USS “Williamsburg” at the beginning of the cruise which brought him to Bermuda

The USS “Williamsburg’s” first stop was the Naval Air Station at Quonset Point, Rhode Island.

While in Rhode Island, the President visited the Naval War College at Newport.

But as the ship prepared to leave Quonset Point, a bad storm broke out and rather than sailing further north as planned, President Truman suggested sailing to Bermuda.

The ship contacted the State Department to obtain permission from the British authorities to visit Bermuda with a minimum of formalities — what Mr. Truman called “fuss or feathers.”

US Navy tug greets the “Williamsburg” in Bermuda as President Truman [right] looks on

The ship arrived in Bermuda on August 22 and Governor of Bermuda Ralph Leatham boarded the “Williamsburg” to call on President Truman.

Later that afternoon President Truman took a carriage ride to Government House and spent several days on the island swimming, sunning and fishing.

The President told Sir Ralph “that he has come to Bermuda because he wants rest and quiet. He [told me]
that he would appreciate anything that I could to do to assure that his wishes are respected”.

President Truman waits to come ashore in Bermuda after the “Williamsburg” had docked

During the week he spent on the island, Bermudians treated the President with the gracious nonchalance they are renowned for; the famous visitor toured the island, went on fishing trips and walked the streets of Hamilton to and from the Anglican Cathedral for a Sunday service without once being mobbed.

He also took a small tour of the island with staff from the US Naval Operating Base at Port Royal Harbour.

“We have deemed it a great honour that you chose Bermuda for your holiday and hope that its restful beauty has lived up to your expectations,” Sir Ralph told President Truman when the “Williamsburg” left Bermuda on August 30.

President Truman calls on Governor Sir Ralph Leatham at Government House

“We shall always remember that you were the first President in office to visit our colony and hope that you honour us again.”

In a message to Sir Ralph, President Truman said: “Everyone enjoyed our visit to Bermuda and hope to come back. Please express my appreciation to the inhabitants of Bermuda for all their courtesy,” President Truman said in a message to Sir Ralph after he returned to Washington.

Although he never returned to the island aboard the “Williamsburg”, after leaving office Mr. Truman became a regular visitor to Bermuda in the 1950s and ’60s.

#AmericanPoliticians #AmericanRelations #BermudaHistory

Category: All, History