YACHTS CHANGE OWNERSHIP
Recent Sales and Charters Show Renewed Interest in Sport. . .
The 90-foot twin screw cruising power yacht Sachem, sold for the estate of W. Bruce MacKelvie [sic; see note] of New York to A. M. Andrews of Chicago, who contemplates using the craft on the Pacific coast.
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Note: "W. Bruce MacKelvie" is apparently a typo in the original article above. Our searches have turned up nothing on "W. Bruce MacKelvie". However, numerous references to a New York broker named "Neil Bruce MacKelvie" can be found in early 20th century articles. "N. Bruce MacKelvie" died of drowning on Aug. 17, 1918. This is almost certainly the estate from which A. M. Andrews purchased the Sachem, although we have yet to tie N. Bruce MacKelvie (or any MacKelvie) to the Sachem.
Update 03/09/2008: The Newport [R.I.] Daily News reported on Apr. 8, 1912, that Messrs. C. L. F. Robinson and N. Bruce MacKelvie of the New York Yacht Club were having built a gasoline powered, dual-engined, 90-foot cruising motor yacht. Though no name was given in the article, this is quite possibly the Sachem. We will continue our research to try to tie these loose ends together.
Update 03/30/2008: DANFS reports the Sachem [III], SP-192, was a steam yacht formerly called the Celt:
(Motor Patrol Boat SP-192: tonnage 317; length 186'3"; draft 8'; speed 12 knots; complement 49; armament 1 6-pounder, 2 3-pounders, 2 machine guns)For a while we thought that maybe this was Andrews' Sachem. However, given the two references above to a "90-foot yacht", and California Life's reference to the "84-foot" Sachem, it seems unlikely that the 186-foot SP-192 is related to Andrews' Sachem.
The third Sachem (SP-192), formerly the steel-hulled, steam yacht Celt, was built by Pusey and Jones, Wilmington, Del.; launched on 12 April 1902; sponsored by Miss Elizabeth Hunter Pusey; acquired by the Navy from M. B. Metcalf of New York on 3 July 1917; and placed in service on 19 August 1917. She operated as a harbor patrol craft in the 3d Naval District until she was returned to her owner on 10 February 1919.
By the way, the Celt/Sachem (SP-192) went on to become a fishing boat during the 1930s, went back to the Navy for patrol service in Florida during World War II, and became a Circle Line around-Manhattan sightseeing boat named Sightseer after the war. (Brian J. Cudahy (1997), Around Manhattan Island and Other Maritime Tales of New York, New York: Fordham Univ Press).