Yachts of yesteryear

This 138-foot long steel motor yacht was homeported off Balboa Island

from May to September 1939. The owner, Commodore William A. Bartholomas,

Jr., of Newport Harbor Yacht Club, put down two large moorings off his

home at 118 W. Bay Front on Balboa Island to accommodate his large

yacht.Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine built Paragon in 1929. She was

138-foot-2 with a beam of 19-feet-4 and a draft of 9-feet-6. Paragon was

powered by two Winston air starting direct reversible diesel engines,

providing a cruising speed of 14 knots.Paragon was wrecked at the Newport

Harbor entrance during the Sept. 24 hurricane of 1939. She was salvaged

and taken to San Pedro. During the war, the U.S. Navy purchased Paragon.

After very extensive refitting, she was commissioned and used in coastal

patrol work out of San Pedro.In 1949, Paragon, during a trip south in

heavy fog, ran aground at Cedros Island and was declared a total loss.

-- John Blaich, Corona del Mar resident, yacht historian and active

sailor.