This yacht, Jett Stream, is now located on the Cumberland River in Tennessee. In 1976 it led a procession of "tall ships" (sailing ships) into harbor. It was once known as the Queen of the Potomac. It has an amazing history (see below for more information). The photograph below was taken BEFORE the most recent upgrades.
For most of the period since the early 1990's, Jett Stream was owned by Keith & Cathy Adkinson. He was a successful lawyer. She is better known by her stage name, Jett Williams (daughter of singer Hank Williams, born mere days after his death). She sold the boat in January of 2015.
Jett Stream is constructed of oak, teak, and mahogany. Her interior reflects the elegance found in the luxury railroad cars built by American Car & Foundry. The U.S. Navy took possession of her in 1942 and used her as a district patrol vessel along the East Coast. Copies of the logs kept during those days still exist.
Later, she appeared in the 1948 movie Key Largo as the personal yacht of mobster Johnny Rocco, played by Edward G. Robinson. Still later, she was often berthed at the Capitol Yacht Club in D.C. and was frequently referred to as "the Queen of the Potomac."
The American Car & Foundry Company of Wilmington, Delaware was formed by the merger of 13 smaller, competing railroad car manufacturing companies, including the Missouri Car & Foundry Company of St. Louis, founded in 1865, and the Jackson & Woodin Car Works of Berwick, Pennsylvania, founded in 1840 as a farm implement manufacturing company (Woodin joined Jackson in 1849). ACF later acquired many more companies.
The company was primarily involved in producing railroad cars, subway cars, and streetcars. In 1904, it produced the first all-steel railroad cars in the world, eventually including 300 for the Interborough Rapid Transit system of NYC and others for the London Underground.
They began building boats (among them, submarine chasers) during World War I under contracts with the U.S. Navy. When the war ended, they switched to building yachts. It is thought that Jett Stream is the last surviving yacht of the four 70 footers they ever built. They also built smaller yachts.
In the three years prior to America's entry into World War II, they built at least 1,000 tanks for the U.S. military. In 1984, the company was purchased by Carl Icahn. It is currently focused on building railroad tank cars.
Most of the information in this statement comes either from Wikipedia or from an article by Gary Kramer about the yacht which appeared on pages 12 through 15 of Heartland Boating's August, 2008 issue.
The photos below of the 15-foot-beam, 51-gross-tons yacht were taken in the autumn of 2015:
In January of 2015, a marine survey was made of the yacht. It was determined to have a substantial value but also to have some problem areas. Since that time a significant investment of effort and money have gone into the yacht, upgrading it so that its value is now even more substantial.
It was originally powered by gasoline engines, but is now powered by two Detroit Diesel 6-71 engines, which currently appear to be in good condition.
Among the upgrades in 2015 are replacement of the following -- rub rails; skirt boards; planks under rubrails (wherever rot was found) -- as well as application of five coats of primer over the entire starboard and port sides of the yacht above the waterline. The result is a river-ready yacht, as you can see in the photo above.
In 2016, unnecessarily, but for good measure, to make certain that the new owner will have no issues, the bottom of the yacht was completely refastened by the current owner himself, with professional oversight.
Above are some more up to date pictures taken in 2019 after fresh varnish, new decks and fresh paint to the deck area and ceilings.
