Aphrodite: One of the Most Interesting Yachts in the World
The name and image of Aphrodite have long captured the imagination of boating enthusiasts and the public alike. Built in 1937 by the Purdy Boat Company of Port Washington, New York, this 74-foot commuter yacht was commissioned by the young Manhattan financier John Hay “Jock” Whitney and quickly became a standout on Long Island Sound and beyond. Its combination of elegant lines, powerful performance, and a storied history of social and military service have made Aphrodite a celebrated example of classic American yacht design.
Design and Presence
Maritime historian Joe Gribbins summed Aphrodite’s visual appeal succinctly: “long, black, sweetly curved … with a clipper bow, dramatic beaver-tailed stern, varnished house and cockpit,” with the name Aphrodite gilded on the stern. Those features—sleek hull, graceful curves, and richly finished superstructure—created a yacht that was both beautiful and unmistakable in profile. The yacht’s refined styling and careful craftsmanship exemplified the high standards of pre-war American boatbuilding.
A Social Centerpiece
From the start, Aphrodite drew a glamorous circle of visitors. As Whitney used her as his commuter vessel between his Long Island home and Manhattan, the yacht became a mobile social venue. On weekends around Fishers Island she was so reliable she even ran to New London, Connecticut, to pick up a fresh copy of the New York Herald-Tribune, the newspaper Whitney owned. Celebrities were regular guests: Fred Astaire reputedly tap-danced on deck, Shirley Temple celebrated a birthday aboard, and Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy were among the notable visitors who enjoyed time on the yacht. Aphrodite’s combination of style and accessibility made her a magnet for prominent figures of the era.
Wartime Service and Adventure
The outbreak of World War II transformed Aphrodite’s role almost overnight. Whitney donated the yacht to the United States Coast Guard the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. During the war she performed a variety of important and sometimes dramatic duties: she served as a PT-boat test vessel, acted as a torpedo screen for the British liner Queen Mary, and escorted President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s trains as they traveled the Hudson River. At one point the FBI even apprehended a suspected spy aboard the boat. These episodes added layers of historical significance to Aphrodite’s already notable reputation.
Postwar Prominence and Decline
After the war, Fishers Island and the surrounding waters became a hub for affluent yacht owners, including members of the Rockefeller and DuPont families. Aphrodite remained a benchmark of performance and elegance—her V-12 Packard engines made her the “mile-a-minute” boat of Long Island Sound, outpacing many of her contemporaries. Yet the yacht’s fortunes changed in later decades. By the 1960s she had left Whitney’s ownership and entered a long period of decline. Neglect and hard times led to her sinking in her slip more than once and nearly rotting away on the hard.
Rescue and Restoration
Salvation came when marina owner John Pannell acquired Aphrodite and commissioned a refit in 1984 that returned her to the vintage yacht circuit and earned awards. Later, in 2000, Charles Royce purchased the yacht and arranged a comprehensive restoration. The rebuild at Brooklin Boat Yard in Maine involved roughly 40,000 hours of work, carefully executed to preserve Aphrodite’s classic lines while restoring her structure and mechanical systems. John Maxwell of the yard observed that “Aphrodite is again, as she was in days past, a stunning example of the classic American motoryacht.”
Today’s Status
Today Aphrodite is home-ported in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, where she continues to turn heads and remind observers of a golden era of yacht building and social life on the water. Her story—spanning glamorous social seasons, wartime service, deterioration, and meticulous restoration—makes her one of the most interesting and historically rich yachts afloat.
November 2012 issue.