photograph
Artwork
Accession Number
989.008Description
A black and white photograph of TSSY Dolaura, the yacht centred in the image, its bow facing away from the camera to the left, the yacht with two masts and one smoke stack, a white coloured hull, horizontal acanthus vine ornamentation on the sides of the stern with name "Dolaura" in large upper-case letters horizontally printed on the centre of the stern, in the background a horizon of low hills partly bare and partly forested with Douglas Fir, some buildings to the left side and one house to the right side, a cloudy sky dominating the top half of the image, calm waters in lower half, the yacht anchored off shore with a launch tied a stairway into an opening in the side of the hull, a launch or lifeboat hanging from the bow.Narrative
The TSSY DOLAURA was a private yacht built in 1908 for Hon. James Dunsmuir by the Fleming and Ferguson shipyard of Paisely, Scotland. It was named by combining the names of Dola and Laura Dunsmuir.The next four owners were members of the New York Yacht Club. In 1920, the yacht was sold to Arthur Meeker and renamed the VICTORIA; from 1922 to 1924 the yacht belonged to James Shewan and renamed the PATRICIA; from 1926 to 1928 the yacht belonged to Russell A. Alger and was renamed the LAURENTIAN; from 1929 to 1936 the yacht belonged to George W. Childs Drexel and was renamed the ALCEDO.
From 1937 to 1939 the yacht belonged to John C. Sword of Britain and was renamed the VALENA; at the outbreak of WW2, the yacht was requisitioned by the Admiralty, named HMS VALENA and used to hunt enemy submarines until 1945.
VALENA was returned to Mr. Sword and then sold to Pontos Cia de Nav (J. Lavanos), Panama and used for passenger service in the Mediterranean. The yacht was scrapped at La Spezia, Italy on December 30, 1951.
An aerial photograph of the HMS Valena can be seen here: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205017805
