The American steam yacht Iolanda in Mediterranean waters off Naples

The long-lived American yacht Iolanda was one of the grandest and most distinctive pleasure craft, not only of her own day but possibly of the entire steam yacht era. Designed by Cox & King and built by Ramage & Ferguson at Leith in 1908, she was ordered by Morton F. Plant of New York, the immensely wealthy owner of various East Coast and Caribbean shipping lines who had sold out his business interests in order to devote himself to yachting and overseas travel. Registered at 1,822 tons (Thames) and measuring 279 feet in length with a 37 foot beam, she was rigged as a schooner and her powerful triple-expansion engines gave her a cruising speed of 19 knots. After sailing her 33,000 miles, including twice through the Mediterranean, Plant tired of Iolanda and she was sold to Mme. E. Terestchenko, a Russian émigré living in Cannes, in 1912. With Russia as Britain's ally in the Great War, Iolanda was hired by the Admiralty as an auxiliary patrol yacht and, armed with 2-3in. guns, she completed four years of wartime duty until released in February 1919. Between 1920 and 1927, she was managed by Camper & Nicholson as a charter yacht until sold to Mr. Moses Taylor, of New York's National City Bank, in 1928. Initially hired from Taylor's widow as a submarine tender in 1939 under the name White Bear, she was subsequently purchased by the Admiralty and served as a survey ship from 1943 until 1947 when she was sold out of the service.