Wild Goose

Yard class wooden-hulled minesweeper YMS-228 was designed by Henry B. Nevins Yacht Builders of City Island, New York, and constructed in 1943 by the Ballard Marine Railway Company in Seattle, Washington. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in 1946, all her armament removed and sold to private owners who performed various alterations to convert her for use as a private yacht. She was renamed Wild Goose II by Max Wyman in the late 1950s. Following his purchase of the ship in 1962, John Wayne chose to retain her name, dropping only the Roman numeral “II” at the end. The ship’s fortunes rose and fell, calling several harbors home until 1994 when it was moved to her present berth at Newport Beach and certified by the Coast Guard for ocean charter service. The Wild Goose is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Newport Beach, Orange County
Photographer: Andrew Schmidt