The US Department of the Interior has approved the nomination for actor John Wayne’s 41m (136ft) motor yacht Wild Goose, to enter the National Register of Historic Places. M/Y Wild Goose was previously certified by the California Office of Historic Preservation and was deemed eligible for entry into the National Register because of her association with the iconic Hollywood actor John Wayne. The National Register of Historic Places is an honorary designation meant to recognize places with certain significance and encourage their preservation.
John Wayne's superyacht Wild Goose enters the National Register of Historic Places.
The yacht Wild Goose is a converted minesweeper that was originally built in 1943 in Seattle as YMS-328 for the US Navy. Decommissioned from military use in 1946, her three on-deck guns were removed. The current owner Hornblower Cruises, maintains the boat as a homage to actor John Wayne, who bought the World War II minesweeper in 1962 for $116,000 and refurbished it as a yacht, using it to travel and entertain until his death in 1979.
The owners who came after Wayne spent over USD $3 million on refitting yacht Wild Goose, which included the addition of an upper deck and a room on the main deck.
M/Y Wild Goose still cruises in California, hosting day trips and events, weddings, dinner cruises and tours.
Documents submitted to the US Department of the Interior cite the yacht as “an expression of John Wayne’s personality and outsized image.”
