A historic schooner built for Gen. George Patton has arrived at the Port of Rochester as part of a Great Lakes boat festival.
The 83-foot schooner, When and If, docked Tuesday evening and will offer daily public cruises through the weekend. The vessel is part of the Great Lakes Tall Ships Festival, a multi-city celebration of traditionally rigged sailing vessels. Rochester has been selected as a stop on the tour for the first time.
“We were fighting a little bit of a headwind, so we had to kind of peel off a little bit,” said Capt. Sean Flynn. “Beautiful sailing in here for the first time.”
The schooner joins other majestic vessels, including the Lettie G. Howard, a New York City-based tall ship that also arrived at the port this week. Unlike When and If, the Lettie G. Howard will not offer public cruises or tours.
Faye Braswell-Towner, a member of the Ontario Beach Park Program Committee and former commander of America’s Boating Club Rochester, said this is a rare opportunity for Rochester to showcase its waterfront.
“We in Rochester know the boats pass us by, but we want the boats to come here and see us,” she said. “So we talked with these guys, and they were willing to come.”
Flynn said When and If stands out from other ships not just for its craftsmanship, but for its story.
“She’s a beauty. There’s not many like her, definitely not still around,” Flynn said. “She was built for speed and being durable. Built to sail around the world.”
Designed in 1939 by famed naval architect John Alden, the schooner was commissioned by Gen. Patton just before World War II. According to Flynn, the general planned to sail around the world with his wife after the war.
“He knew the war was coming,” Flynn said. “So he said, when the war is over and if I return, he and his wife Beatrice were going to sail around the world.”
But Patton never had the chance. He died in a car crash shortly after the war ended, during peace talks in Europe.
On Tuesday, as the ship approached the Port of Rochester, a local World War II veteran was waiting to greet it.
“Came down to see my boss, General Patton,” said 99-year-old John Foy, who served in the Battle of the Bulge.
“He pulled up behind us in his Jeep, screaming ‘Kill the sons of bitches!’ And that's what we did,” Foy recalled. “I met him maybe three or four times during the war. He wasn’t one to hang back. He came right up to the front, almost into my foxhole.”
Foy described Patton as a hard man, but one who earned the trust and respect of his troops.
Although Patton never sailed his dream boat, When and If continues to travel the country, bringing his story to life.
“It’s just a part of history to be able to get on board and go out for the day and really enjoy what sailing is meant to be,” Flynn said.
