POTOMAC CURRENTS Oakland, California 2007 Volume 4 Number 3

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Floating White House”

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GPS and the PotomacBy Les Marks and Ron Ucovich

In the days of yore, when “Iron Men” went down to the sea in “Wooden Ships” they would navigate their ships across the water using a compass and kept track of their position by tak-ing fixes on the stars and the sun with an instru-ment called a sextant. While the USS Potomac was in service as the “Floating White House” for President Roosevelt, the US Navy crew still used the above basic instruments, as well as us-ing visual aids to navigation. They also had the ability to calculate their positions more accu-rately, by taking directional bearings on coastal radio stations. Today the Potomac has much better elec-tronic equipment to accurately pinpoint its posi-tion. The ship is equipped with a Chart Plotter that gets information from a pre-programmed chip, radar, depth sounder and Global Position-ing System (GPS). The pre-programmed chip shows a map pro-file of the west coast, from Acapulco, MX to Cape Flattery, WA. We use the portion that de-picts San Francisco Bay. This profile includes all the navigation aids, such as buoys and light- houses. The radar displays the stationary and moving environment around the Potomac. By watching the radar, the crew can detect other ships and take evasive action to avoid a colli-sion. The depth sounder provides the crew with a profile of the bottom around the ship so they know how much water is beneath them, which allows them to avoid running aground. Lastly, the GPS provides very accurate information about the ship’s position. On the Chart Plot-ter, the GPS will provide a track showing ex-actly where the ship has been cruising. It also provides a very accurate digital readout of the ship’s speed and position in latitude and longi-tude. You might wonder how it can do this, let me explain: The first GPS satellite was launched in 1978 and the system grew from there. As of April

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Presidential Rail Car, U.S. Number 1Ferdinand MagellanCompiled by Rich Knowles

Adjacent to Metro Zoo in south Miami-Dade County is one of the most unusual and fascinating museums in the country--the Gold Coast Railroad museum, where actual historic railroad cars are on display on a half mile of real track. There are no electrified miniature trains here. This is the real thing!

The proudest acquisition is the Ferdinand Magellan, built expressly for President Franklin Roosevelt in the 20th Century. Like our USS Potomac, it is now a desig-nated National Historic Landmark. The Magellan was completely restored to its former glory by a team of experts from the Smithsonian Insti-tute after suffering damage during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The Magellan, used by Presidents Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower stands ready to go back into service should any sitting president need it. The USS Potomac and the Ferdinand Magellan share a great deal of history. Like the Potomac, a special el-

evator was installed. The elevator, on the observation platform at the rear of the car, was used to aid the president in boarding the car in a wheel chair. This elaborate device was removed from the railcar after the death of President Roosevelt. The rear platform was often used by the President for making speeches, especially when the car was used for “whistle stop” campaign trips. The famous news photo of Harry Truman holding up a copy of the Chicago Tribune with a banner headline stat-ing “Dewey Defeats Truman” was taken on this platform at St. Louis Union Station. The 84 foot long car was originally painted Pullman green. President Roosevelt’s only request for the design was to “make it a little more comfortable,” resulting in a redesign of the interior. The car was returned to the Pullman Company’s Calumet shops, near Chicago, for a complete rebuilding. The number of bedrooms was reduced from five to four which created more room for the dining room and observation lounge. Steel armor plate 5/8” thick was riveted on to the sides, roof, floor and end of the car in a manner that made it undetectable when the car was viewed from any distance. Three inch bullet proof glass, manufactured by laminating twelve sheets of 1/4” thick glass into one piece, was sealed into the window frames replacing conventional safety glass. Two escape hatches were built into the car, one in the ceiling of the observation lounge and one on the side wall of the shower bath in the presidential bathroom, near the center of the car. Special trucks, wheels and roller bearings were installed to support the additional weight. A standard heavy-weight Pullman car of the Magellan’s era weighed 160,000 pounds. The rebuilt Ferdinand Magellan

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Why We Do……… What We Do.

Each morning, when I come into work, before I even open the door to the Visitor Center, I glance over at the Potomac. I do so not so much to see if she’s still afloat, or to see if anyone is on board, I glance over at our magnificent ship to remind myself how meaningful and important what we do actually is. Perhaps I can clarify for you why caring for the Presidential Yacht Po-tomac is so important not just to all the people who comprise the “Potomac family,” but to everyone.

Foremost it is important to us to share with the guests, clients and students the amazing history of the Potomac and the man she served, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I cannot think of a single president, except perhaps our early leaders like Washing-ton and Jefferson, who did so much for our country. The man, Franklin Roosevelt, and his amazing wife Eleanor had a dynamic impact on America that is still resonating today.

The social and economic programs that FDR moved through congress in the early days after the Great Depression got our country back on its feet and moving toward a viable economy after years of economic disaster. Some of the programs, like WPA, CCC, NRA, etc., were designed to get America back to work. The end product of those programs, the dams, the water pumping stations, the roads, parks systems, are all still with us and working for us today.

The social programs instituted by FDR (with no small influence from First Lady Eleanor) to bring hope and dignity to the families who suffered horrible economic reversals during the depression, are still in place, albeit modified to reflect changing needs. These programs, some of which are highly controversial today, are designed to lend a hand to families who have suffered economic downturn and need some assistance to become productive again. The Social Security program insures that retiring seniors, who pay into the system throughout their working lives, have a small stipend that they can count on.

The Potomac played a historic role in many of the landmark decisions formulated by President Roosevelt. It was used as a place to think, talk and strategize during hot Washington, DC summers. It was a vessel used for entertaining world leaders and forging bonds between key governments to move the war efforts forward. It was also used to take FDR to certain clandestine meetings with government leaders to formulate world policies, like the Atlantic Charter which shaped U.S. actions toward Japan and Germany after WWII.

The Potomac has had an interesting history in her own right, including uses as a disco, marine fisheries vessel, ferry boat and, legend has it, a drug runner. She started her career as a USCG cutter designed to chase “rum runners” landing on the East Coast during Prohibition. Then the Potomac was transformed to proudly serve as the Presidential Yacht for President Roosevelt. In 1945, after the death of FDR, the Potomac began her 50 year-long, convoluted, and sometimes humbling jour-ney to Oakland. One highlight along the way includes ownership by “the King,” Elvis Presley.

Now the Potomac, fully restored, operational, and beautiful, is berthed at the foot of Clay Street in the soon to be transformed Jack London Square in Oakland. She still serves as a place to think, entertain, strategize and enjoy by leaders of the East Bay and San Francisco communities. She is visited by thousands of school children and adults each year. She plays hostess to many events, including corporate soirees, weddings, birthdays and anniversaries. She celebrates major holidays such as Independence Day, Fleet Week and Veterans’ Day with cruises on the Bay.

More importantly, however, the Potomac represents a historic and crucial time in American his-tory and a man whose impact, decisions and actions still affect us today. That’s why we care, work tirelessly to maintain this historic ship, reach out to tell our story and represent a very important and vital part of the community of Oakland and the greater bay area.

And all in a morning’s glance!

Marti B.

2007, there are 30 satellites in a more or less polar orbit arrangement. These satellites are at an altitude of 12,600 miles and circle the earth twice each day. The ship’s GPS receives a sig-nal from at least three satellites. The signal re-ceived from the satellite contains a time stamp that the ship’s GPS uses to calculate how long it took the signals to reach the GPS receiver. Since radio waves travel at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second) it can calculate the distance from the satellites. By using a process called trilateration, it pinpoints the ship’s posi-tion with an accuracy of a few meters. The fol-lowing diagram shows how the mileage marks from the three satellites would appear on the earth, and where they intersect is the position of the ship’s GPS receiver.

The graphic below shows the layout of the system when it had 24 satellites in the constel-lation. With 30 satellites, the system provides more coverage for better accuracy. This system of satellites is managed by the United States Air Force 50th Space Wing. Since the Potomac only cruises in the waters of San Francisco Bay, this hi-tech equipment acts more as devices for safe cruising than for actual navigation. For the most part navigation on the Potomac is visual, with the aid of radar at night and during foul weather as the electronic eyes of the ship.

Marti’s Musings

Page 2GPS fron page 1

That Eleanor Roosevelt was courageously way ahead of her time is ap-parent in many of her writ-ings. Recently I came across information re-garding classes that she taught at Todhunter School in New York, which, to my mind, makes her even more admirable. Remember, this was during the l920s and l930s.

Her teaching methods encouraged students to think for themselves. Her history exams had two parts: one factual and one analytical. Stu-dents had to answer questions such as:

• Give your reasons for or against allowing women to actively participate in the control of the government, politics and officials through the vote, as well as your reasons for or against women holding office in the government? • What is the object today of the inheritance, income and similar taxes? • How are Negroes excluded from voting in the South?

In each class, she underscored the connec-tion between things of the past and things of today, as well as encouraging the students to understand the difference between subject and citizen. She took students on field trips to the New York Children’s Court and various tene-ments and markets in the city so they could see the problems facing New Yorkers and how the government tried to address them.

Source: Eleanor Roosevelt Historic Site, Hyde Park, New YorkAngie Papastefan, Editorangiepapas@aol.com

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NOW HEAR THIS...Magellan Continued from Page 1

weighed 285,000 pounds – the heaviest railcar in the United States. The Ferdinand Magellan traveled at the end of a special train that includ-ed Pullman sleeping cars for staff, baggage cars and a communications car operated by the Army Signal Corps. One of the more significant bits of Presiden-tial service for the Ferdinand Magellan occurred on January 9, 1943 when a five-car train was quietly assembled in the Washington railyard. The president’s Navy stewards were summoned from the presidential yacht to perform duties ordinarily handled by Pullman porters. Officials preparing this special train were told not to issue any instructions that might cause suspicion. The train left Washington D.C. at 10pm with Presi-dent Roosevelt aboard and headed north, sup-posedly for Hyde Park. The train, however, only went as far north as Fort Meade, Maryland. An hour later it was headed south beginning Presi-dent Roosevelt’s journey to the now-famous Casablanca Summit Meeting. Before dawn on January 11, the train arrived in Miami. The pres-ident was driven to Dinner Key terminal where he boarded a seaplane for Africa. FDR traveled about 50,000 miles in the Ferdinand Magellan during his presidency. He preferred to travel at 35 miles per hour. On April 9, 1945, he left Washington on the Ferdi-nand Magellan for a trip to the Summer White House at Warm Springs, Georgia, arriving there on April 10th. He died the next afternoon of a stroke. On April 13, the funeral train bearing the President’s body left Warm Springs for Hyde Park. Mrs. Roosevelt was riding in the Ferdi-nand Magellan, which was the second car from the end of the train, for the first time since it had been placed in presidential service. The casket was placed inside the Conneaut, another Pull-man car, by removing a window to make a large enough opening to place the casket inside. The bullet proof windows of the Ferdinand Magel-lan could not be removed. President Truman used the car more than any other president. In Truman’s famous “whis-tle stop” campaign tour of 1948, he traveled more than 28,000 miles and made close to 350 speeches from the rear platform of the Ferdi-nand Magellan. The last president to occupy the Ferdinand Magellan while it was the property of the US Government was Dwight D. Eisen-hower, who used it very little. The last trip for the Ferdinand Magellan in government service was in 1954 when Mrs. Eisenhower traveled from Washington D. C. to Groton, Connecticut to christen the world’s first nuclear powered submarine, the U.S.S. Nautilus. In 1978 the Ferdinand Magellan was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the next year, the Gold Coast Railroad Museum received permission to replace the Seal of the President of the United States on the rear plat-form of the car. The Gold Coast Railroad Museum is located in Miami-Dade County Florida. Much of this information is found on the folowing web site: http://goldcoast-railroad.org

Eleanor Roosevelt – A Teacher To Remember

Note: It isn’t often that we encounter people who actually had personal experiences with the Roosevelts. Mary Kent Scott is one of those people and, at our request, has penned the fol-lowing memories of Eleanor Roosevelt.

Eleanor Roosevelt was a presence at Tod-hunter School during the two years I spent there. Todhunter was a small (98 students) school in an old brownstone located on the upper east side of New York. It was owned by Mrs. Roosevelt and Miss Marion Dickerman, the principal. The school was on the English model; we were in forms rather than grades and some of the teach-ers were English.

Mrs. Roosevelt taught there three days a week, commuting from Albany while her hus-band, Franklin, was governor of New York State. The classes she taught were in history, literature and public affairs. My memory of Mrs. Roosevelt was mostly of her weekly as-sembly talks. While I don’t remember the sub-jects of her talks, I do remember that we were all attentive. We would march down the stairs to the hunting song “Do You Ken John Peel?” I do remember that she was tall, slender and erect, and moved with grace. I also remember that she wore clothes from a New York shop, The Tai-lored Woman.

Another memory is of being one of five stu-dents who, along with Mrs. Roosevelt, were driven by her chauffeur to deliver Christmas baskets to people on the lower east side. She had a way making all of us feel quite special and I’ll never forget her warmth and charm.

Even though I was only in the fourth and fifth forms, all the students were invited to attend graduation ceremonies. Governor Roosevelt was the speaker and while I remember that his talk was inspiring, I wasn’t prepared for the re-alization of how difficult it was for him to move and get into his chair – even with assistance.

Later, when the Roosevelts moved to the White House, the seniors were entertained there by Mrs. Roosevelt.

The Todhunter School soon merged with the Dalton School in New York and my family moved to Scarsdale. Mrs. Roosevelt gave a talk while I was at Smith College several years later but my attempt to meet and speak to her was unsuccessful.

As Remembered by Mary Kent Scott

2007 Fleet Week andVeterans’ Day Cruises

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The Potomac Association540 Water Street

P.O. Box 2064 Oakland, CA 94604 Telephone: 510-627-1215

www.usspotomac.org The Potomac Currents is published

by the Association for the Preservation of the Presidential Yacht, Potomac, Inc.

Printed courtesy of the Port of Oakland’sREPROGRAPHIC DEPARTMENT

Editor: Angie PapastefanLayout and Design: David McGraw

Editorial Board: Marti Burchell, Rich Knowles, Les Marks and David McGraw

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: No part of this publication may be reproduced

without written permission by the publisher.

Board of Governors and StaffMichael Roosevelt, Chairman

Carla Betts, PresidentAl Groh, 1st Vice President

Tom Morehouse, 2nd Vice PresidentArt Haskell, CFO

Rick Anderson, Mary BerganJoe Brennan, David Connolly,

Page 4

POTOMAC SCHEDULE SPECIAL CRUISESIndependance Day • July 4th

Angel Island Cruise, Tram Tour and Lunch • July 25, August 22, September 26Call for departure times, reservations and pricing

DOCKSIDE TOURSThe Potomac is open for docent-led dockside tours from mid-January to mid-December. Tours

are approximately 45 minutes and include a 15 minute video shown in the Visitor Center.Wednesday and Friday 10:30am to 2:30pm (last ticket sold at 1:45pm)

Sunday 12 Noon to 3:30pm (last ticket sold at 2:45pm)Dockside Ticket Pricing:

$7/Adult • $5/Seniors • 12 and under/Free

SPRING 2007 HISTORY CRUISESEnjoy a two-hour narrated History Cruise with our knowledgeable docents and crew. Complimen-tary soda, coffee, tea and water are available. Tickets may be purchased by contacting TicketWeb at www.ticketweb.com or by calling 866-468-3399, or by calling the Potomac at 510-627-1215. Reservations are highly recommended. Groups of 20 or more must make reservations by calling the Potomac Association at 510-627-1215.

History Cruises Depart Jack London Square at 11amHistory Cruise Ticket Pricing:

Adults $40.00 / Seniors (over 60) $35.00Youth 6-12 $20.00 / Under 6 Free

Groups of 20 or more $30.00 For future dates and information: www.usspotomac.org

Note: if you have any questions or comments about the above listing, please e-mail: gseligson@usspotomac.org or write to Friends of the Potomac, Attn: Gordon Seligson, P.O.Box 2064, Oakland CA 94604

CONTRIBUTIONS and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS January 1 thru May 31, 2007PATRON

Joe Brennan and Jan TiuraBuzz Gibb

Stanley Jacobsen and Emmy WernerCOMMANDER IN CHIEF

AnonymousWillis DemingArthur Haskell

Denny and Ruth McLeodADMIRAL

Richard ZampaMary Bergan ELEANOR

Larry and Christine WestlandDavid Lee Woods and Phyllis D. Chambers

CAPTAINMiriam and Leon Bloomberg

Olaf ElanderGeorge FraserAlbert GrohLinda Huber

Ironworkers InternationalJames McCloudEleanor Moore

Michael and Deborah RooseveltGordon Seligson

John and Clem UnderhillBeverly VoelkerFIRST MATE

Bruce and Gail AdairJill Boornauan

Windy and Jerry ButlerBob Cowen

Fred CunninghamJohn and Patricia DervinArt and Ardeth Dreshfield

Les and Elaine DropkinRobert Eakin and Avis Hendley

Bill and Maria EwingDorothy and Julie FiliceBonny and Earl Hamlin

Walter JaffeeMarvin Jensen

Tom and Lori JeramiasenRich Knowles and Merlyn Uhlenberg

Neal and Nancy LamblyDaniel LameyPat MacLean

David and Myrna McGrawJim O’Connor

Curtis Davies, Virginia FurthJean Gaskell, Buzz Gibb, Judy Goff

Doug Higgins, James McCloudDenny McLeod, Ron Paredes,

Kirk Rowlands, Richard Zampa

Marti Burchell, Executive DirectorCraig Newton, Shipkeeper✮✮✮✮✮

Wanda VivianoCynthia Weiss

John and Marilyn WellandFALA

Sally Beck and David BrossardDonald BonneyGus Dorough

Joseph EchelberryGeorgia Edlund

Elizabeth HannonLeroy and Marlene Hintzman

Esther JenningsJohn Lucy

Frank McConvilleModern Express Courier

Dawn MullerHerbert PlochMary Rudser

Jerry and Lovene SilsdorfWarren and Helen Tryon

Robert WoodruffSTUDENT/TEACHER

Ted BrownADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS

City National Bank

David and Myrna McGraw

WELCOME, RICH KNOWLES

In addition to his twice-weekly duties in the Potomac office, Rich Knowles has joined the POTOMAC CURRENTS Editorial Board. In his own words, here is a brief bio.

I retired in August 2002 from 40 years in the banking business. During 22 years at Bank of California, I held several positions, primarily at the San Francisco main office. I retired as Vice President in the Bank’s Credit Policy Division.

My long and valued friendship with David and Myrna McGraw is responsible for my join-ing the office staff. I am beginning my third year with the Potomac. I assumed the respon-sibility for cruise reservations when Ken Kings-bury “retired.” Journalism qualifications? Well, I was busi-ness manager of my high school yearbook. Does that qualify? (Editor’s note: YES!) I graduated from the University of San Francisco with a BS in Organizational Behavior.

That’s me, oh yea, I play the piano, too, and love to travel, with a cruise scheduled this fall with the McGraws and another Potomac family, the Biggins.