❖ YACHT FANTOME ANCHORS IN BAY

Schooner FANTOME, July 1939.

Four months after her arrival in West Seattle,

the schooner is locking through en route

 to her SYC moorage. Photographer unknown.
Original photo from the archives of the S. P. H. S.©

"Residents who live on the bluffs of West Seattle above Elliott Bay rubbed their eyes and took a second look this morning when they saw a stately frigate moving gracefully through the haze and into the harbor. Painted like a century-old man-o-war, she was, with her gilt figurehead, a carved spread eagle, glinting in the morning sun. Shades of 'Old Ironsides', or the ghost of Captain Vancouver.
      But as the vessel moved closer and came to anchor, they saw a gleaming brasswork and polished teak, and flying from her ensign staff astern the coveted white and crimson flag of the Royal Squadron, England's proudest yachting society.
      She is the four-masted, schooner-rigged, FANTOME, one of the world's largest private yachts, and aboard is her owner, the Hon. A. E. Guiness of London, whose 'Guiness Stout' has been a popular beverage in England for many years, and a distinguished party of guests.
      The FANTOME is a vessel of 1,260 gross tons register, 257' long. She came to Seattle for a 41' dinghy manufactured by the Chris-Craft Co, which joined the yacht in the harbor. The dinghy will sleep eight persons and cost $12,000. She will be used as a 'ship to shore' tender in waters not deep enough to accommodate the huge yacht.
      The FANTOME left Southampton 4 February [1939] and arrived in San Francisco 12 March, where her owner and his guests joined the yacht. They had crossed the Atlantic on the liner QUEEN MARY and went from New York to San Francisco by airplane.
      After a cruise of B.C. and Puget Sound waters, Mr. Guiness and his guests will leave Vancouver, B.C. for England, but the FANTOME will remain in the Pacific Northwest. Capt. T. H. Frogbrooke commands the FANTOME yacht that carries a crew of thirty-four men. She is a unit of the Royal Yacht Squadron of Southampton.
      En route to the Pacific Coast the FANTOME called only at San Juan, P. R., for bunkers, and the Panama Canal. The yacht was built seven years ago for the Duke of Westminster. She is of the frigate type, resembling an old-time man-of-war. The vessel's taffrail is resplendent in gilt and carvings; she has a carved golden spread-eagle for a figure-head. A twin-screw Diesel-powered vessel, the FANTOME maintains a speed of eleven knots.
      The yacht will remain anchored on the south side of the harbor tonight and tomorrow, elegant for all to see."
Seattle Times, 30 March 1939
S. P. H. S. has another FANTOME post here

❖ Schooner FANTOME ❖

FANTOME
Background photo donated by Nick Exton.
Foreground photo from the James A. Turner Collection, S. P. H. S.© 

"The black and white hull with its golden figurehead, its masts tall against the sky, became a familiar landmark in Seattle during the WW II years. The 1,200-ton, four-masted FANTOME was anchored in Portage Bay near the Seattle Yacht Club for so long she seemed part of the family.

      Her keel was laid in Italy during WW I, originally for a destroyer, but work stopped when the war ended. The Duke of Westminster bought the keel and on it built a floating palace, which was delivered in 1927. The Duke later sold FANTOME to an American who kept her for a year and then turned her over to a ship broker who sold her to A. E. Guinness, of the famous stout brewing family. Guinness sailed her all over the world.

      In the late 1930s Guinness had the FANTOME in Alaska, and while he was there England declared war on Germany. Rather than risk his magnificent yacht to submarines or warships, he anchored her in Portage Bay. (In 1939 Seattle was a neutral port.)

      The normal complement aboard the FANTOME was 35, but while she was in Seattle, only three lived aboard her. From time to time tours were given to help worthy causes. The caretakers, Mr. and Mrs. Long, made friends with SYC members who lived aboard their boats moored at the club. 

   

L-R: Joe Jones, Bill Jones, from longtime Decatur Island family.
Broker Phil Lewis.
Original 1950 photo from the archives of the S. P. H. S.©

       In 1951, FANTOME was sold by the Guinness estate for $50,000 to William and Joe Jones of Seattle, who moored her at various locations in Lake Union and removed her furnishings and stores. In 1953, she sailed for Montreal, supposedly to be scrapped." 

      Above text by James R. Warren, The Centennial History of the Seattle Yacht Club 1892-1992

1969: Michael D. Burke, Windjammer Barefoot Cruises purchased FANTOME, gave her a reported $6 million make-over and registered her in Equatorial Guinea.

1998: FANTOME, Capt. Guyan March, was lost in 100-mph winds of Hurricane Mitch off the coast of Honduras and Guatemala with all hands (31).

The tragedy was reported by Ross Anderson for The Seattle Times, 4 Nov. 1998 and by Knight Ridder Newspapers in The Seattle Times of 8 Nov. 1998.

There is another post on this Log about the tragic loss of the FANTOME. Please click HERE.