This stunning silver framed photograph of the Presidential Yacht USS Mayflower (PY-1) was presented by the officers of the yacht to the First Lady, Mrs. Helen Herron Taft, wife of President William Howard Taft on the occasion of their silver wedding anniversary in 1911. The impressive silver frame, with regal motifs, measures 20 3/4 inches high by 14 1/2 inches wide and is quite heavy. The frame is engraved “H. H. T. / 1886-1911 / From the Captain and Officers of / U.S.S. Mayflower.” The photograph of the Mayflower under steam in a harbor (perhaps New York) measures 12 inches by 9 inches (sight size). The silver plated frame shows some wear to the plating with copper showing through. The green silk backing on the reverse is in tatters due to age. Overall, very good condition.
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President & Mrs. Taft
Helen Herron Taft, wife of President William Howard Taft, was active in her husband’s political career from the time of their marriage in 1886. She is best remembered as First Lady for the planting of the 3,020 Japanese cherry trees around the Tidal Basin and on the Capitol grounds in 1912. As President and First Lady, the Tafts were very active socially.
The social highlight of the Taft administration was the Tafts' silver wedding anniversary gala on June 19, 1911. What started out as a nice afternoon garden party at the White House for family and close friends began to take on a life of its own, particularly as regards the guest list.
A president’s cabinet is his “official family.” They must be invited. Supreme Court justices must be invited. Congressional leadership must be invited. Perhaps all congressmen and senators. The list began to grow.
Both Tafts came from prominent Ohio families with deep roots. The entire Ohio state political hierarchy must be invited, including the Governor, past Governors and past leadership – regardless of party. And if the Ohio Governor was invited, then all governors must be invited. It would be tacky otherwise.
Military brass and high ranking administrative executives must be invited. The diplomatic corps must be invited, from all countries. And one cannot invite a foreign ambassador to such a gathering without inviting his monarch or head of state. The list now included a huge number of people that the Tafts had never met, nor were likely to meet, but who must be invited anyway.
All told, more than eight thousand invitations were issued, and that does not include spouses. A full five thousand (and some counts were higher) persons actually attended.
Since a 25th Anniversary is traditionally a “silver” one, gifts of silver began pouring in like the output of the Comstock Lode.
There were hundreds of silver trays, punch bowls, tea-sets, urns, serving pieces, platters, candle sticks and candelabra of all shapes – and price tags. There was jewelry for Mrs. Taft. There were pens and inkwells for President Taft. There were desk sets, olive forks, pickle forks, card cases, vanity sets, and goblets. Many were monogrammed or specifically engraved presentation pieces. All was of the finest quality, since it was a “personal” present to the President of the United States. And because it was a “personal” gift, the Tafts got to keep their silver haul.
It was also traditional, in those days, for gifts to be displayed publicly. Rooms were put aside in the White House, with tables set to dazzle visitors and tourists who came to gape at the brightness of the stash. According to the Taft family, most silver items were sold or melted in World War I to buy war bonds.
Presidential Yacht USS Mayflower (PY-1)
The Mayflower was a luxurious steam yacht built in 1896 for millionaire Ogden Goelet, who died on board the Mayflower in August 1897. The United States Navy bought the yacht from Goelet’s estate for service in the Spanish American War. The yacht was commissioned USS Mayflower on 24 March 1898 and quickly dispatched to help in the blockade of Cuba. The Mayflower captured a Spanish schooner and took a number of fishing boats and coastal trading vessels. On 11 May, she boarded a large British merchant steamer and sent the blockade runner to the United States. On the 14th, two Spanish gunboats sailed out of the harbor hoping to break through the American blockade. Mayflower's guns engaged the Spanish warships and drove them back to shelter under the guns of Morro Castle.
Early in 1899, the yacht was fitted out for special service in Puerto Rican waters. At San Juan, she served as headquarters for the government of the island being formed by the first American Governor.
In 1902, Mayflower twice served as Admiral George Dewey’s flagship. She sailed to Europe in the summer of 1904, and in the fall carried Secretary of War William Howard Taft on an inspection tour of the West Indies. That year, Mayflower was converted to a presidential yacht.
In 1905, USS Mayflower (PY-1) sailed for Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, to prepare for the peace conference which ended the Russo-Japanese War. President Theodore Roosevelt introduced the Russian and Japanese delegations on board Mayflower on 5 August. The ship continued to play a prominent role in support of the negotiations.
USS Mayflower served as presidential yacht until 1929. She was the scene of many diplomatic and social events during these years. Many members of the world's royal families visited the yacht and numerous persons of great prominence signed her guestbook.
The yacht was sold on 19 October 1931. A number of successive owners tried to promote a wide variety of projects for the ship, including use in the South America coastal trade, restoration as a historic relic, use as a floating dance salon, and even sale to the Japanese Government. However, legal difficulties, a shortage of money, and marginal business conditions frustrated these enterprises while the ship idled in Atlantic ports.
After America entered World War II, the U.S. Navy purchased Mayflower and transferred her to the Coast Guard, recommissioned as USCGC Mayflower (WPE-183). She patrolled the Atlantic coast guarding against German U-boats and escorted coastal shipping besides serving as a radar training ship at Norfolk and Boston.
Decommissioned on 1 July 1946, Mayflower was sold and sailed as Malla out Genoa, Italy, ostensibly for coastwise trade in the Mediterranean. After sailing secretly from Marseilles, she arrived at Haifa in Israel on 3 September, 1948. On board were Jewish refugees. Most were former passengers of the ill-fated Exodus which had been turned back from Palestine the previous summer.
Mayflower was purchased by Israel in 1950 and renamed INS Maoz (K 24). In the Israeli Navy she served as a patrol craft and training ship until she was decommissioned and broken up in 1955.
The Mayflower had one of the most diverse and interesting "lives" of any ship in history. She served as a private yacht, merchant ship and as the presidential yacht for five United States presidents (T. Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding and Coolidge). She also served as a warship, and was possibly the only US Navy ship (certainly one of the very few) to have been in active commissioned service in the Spanish–American War, World War I and World War II. She was also one of the few ships to have served in both the United States and Israeli navies.