Built in 1912, the fully-rigged ship Seven Seas, then named Abraham Rydberg II, served the Swedish Navy as a training ship crewed by 100 cadets. Purchased by Inglis More Uppercue in 1928, a diesel engine was added to transform the vessel for his use as a private yacht. At 29 years-old, Seven Seas Captain Hans G. Milton was thought to be the youngest man in charge of a full-rigged ship at the time. Milton spent much of his life on this vessel starting at the age of 14 when he was among her Swedish cadets.
In 1936, William S. Gubelmann purchased the 168’ LOA Seven Seas and commenced treating his family and friends to adventurous cruises and lavish parties throughout the world as evidenced by hundreds of witty and effusive comments contained in her guestbooks including this blithe entry below.
“The Only Seventeen-Cylinder Cloud I Know.”
Mary C. Knowlton
The Gubelmann Family Collection contains hundreds of Seven Seas “snapshots” depicting family and friends onboard, at sea and numerous ports of call.
Gubelmann with the young crew of Seven Seas competed in long- distance “match” racing with another fully-rigged ship the Joseph Conrad, owned by fellow NYYC member, G. Huntington Hartford.
Unique among sporting events was the long-distance race from Newport to Bermuda, following the conclusion of the series of races in which Ranger (J-5) won most of the prizes. The two full rigged ships, Joseph Conrad, 116 feet overall and Seven Seas, 168 feet had likely competed informally with cadet training crews while serving in the Baltic. But now with both serving as private yachts… (this race) will probably pass on in history as the first purely sports event of its kind.
William H. Taylor, New York Herald Tribune, August 1937, “Square Riggers Race to Bermuda
This sailing contest captured imaginations and public excitement swelled against the “monotonous” backdrop of the perpetually-winning (Harold S.) Vanderbilt in J-Class competition. Seven Seas, carried 16,000 sq./ft. of canvas and once had a speed of 18 knots entered in her log –five knots better than the best time of the sloop-rigged America’s Cup- winning Ranger!
Wherever she sailed, Seven Seas inspired artists and photographers to produce still and moving images of her impressive silhouette. The Messenger of Riverside Church, proudly touted her adventures as the topic of an upcoming event:
TECHINCOLOR MOVIES! of the world-famous and ‘round the world journeys of the full-rigged yacht Seven Seas owned and sailed by Mr. Walter Gubelmann… His travel pictures are the envy of Hollywood and travelogue movie makers and have been taken in the most unusual and distant ports of the seven seas. Every sea-salt will revel in these pictures and the world spanning trip. Every lover of yachting and the bounding blue, the thrill of sails and the tang of the sea; the discovery of strange inhabitants of distant lands, will understand that seats will go fast, so form in line and patience, please!
In 1942 when the US Navy acquired Seven Seas, she assumed duties as a station ship of the 7th Naval District at Key West, FL. After the dangers of coastal U-Boat strikes lessened, she was laid up at Port Everglades, Coast Guard Patrol Base. In 1944 she was struck from the Navy list.