USS Jamestown (PG-55)

USS Jamestown (PG-55)

USS Jamestown (PG-55) was a patrol gunboat and after 13 January 1943 a Jamestown-class motor torpedo boat tender acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her task in her final classification was to provide a “home base” for torpedo boats in remote parts of the ocean during the war, and to provide them with necessary services, such as fuel, food, and repairs.

Jamestown was built as Savarona in 1928 by Pusey & Jones Corp., Wilmington, Delaware, for Mrs. Thomas S. Cadwallader of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While Mrs. Cadwallader operated her, Savarona was said to be the largest and most luxurious yacht in the world. Colonel William Boyce Thompson purchased the palatial vessel in 1929 and renamed her Alder prior to his daughter donating the vessel to the U.S. Navy.