“The Floating White House” Visits Port for 75th Anniversary

Courtesy of the Port of Redwood City

The and Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidential yacht, the USS Potomac, are both celebrating their 75th anniversaries by having this historic vessel visit Redwood City. Climb aboard the Potomac on Saturday, June 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on a public dockside tour at the Port.

Tours are $5/adults, free for children 12 years and under. Parking is free. There will be live band music at the Port’s outdoor waterfront stage. The Sequoia Yacht Club will be open to the public for food and beverages.

The celebration of 75 years of maritime history is co-sponsored by the Port and , the Port’s largest customer.  Sims is an international company whose core business is recycling ferrous and non-ferrous metals, with an emerging business in electronics recycling.        

The USS Potomac was built in 1934 as the Coast Guard cutter Electra. The 165-foot vessel, displacing 416 tons with cruising speeds of 10 to 13 knots, was commissioned as a U.S. Navy vessel in 1936, renamed the USS Potomac, and served as Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Presidential Yacht until his death in 1945. It was also known as “The Floating White House.”

Since it opened to the public in the summer of 1995 at the Port of Oakland, more than a quarter of a million people have visited the USS Potomac.  Five million dollars was spent over a 12-year period to restore the vessel as a memorial to the president who authored the New Deal and led the United States during the Great Depression and the World War II years.

The Port of Redwood City, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, is the only deepwater port in South San Francisco Bay. The Port specializes in bulk cargoes. Redwood City voters approved a ballot measure in 1936 which financed and revitalized the Port making it part of the City of Redwood City in 1937.    

For more information, visit www.redwoodcityport.com.

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