It was during this period that the Sachem would carry one of the most famous people ever to walk its decks in its long and illustrious history. In fact, it was the inventor Thomas Edison, busy conducting experiments in New York Harbor, who spent time as a passenger on the ship.
After the war was over, the Sachem had no further use. It was returned to its original owner. The ship then passed through the hands of Roland L. Taylor, a banker from Philadelphia, before being bought by Captain Jacob Martin of Brooklyn in 1932. But the story of the strange ship does not stop there.
By then the roaring 20s had died down and the Great Depression was in full swing. Martin picked up the ship for a bargain price. He later converted it into a chartered fishing vessel, charging passengers $2 a head to board.
While some people used a trip on the ship as an opportunity to catch fish to feed their families, others saw it as a chance to enjoy a pleasure cruise. In fact, the was an idea so popular that Martin would go down in history as one of the pioneers of the modern concept of party-boat fishing.
In 1941, however, the Unites States once again found itself embroiled in a war, and the Sachem was returned to the U.S. Navy the following year. With the change of hands, it also experienced a change of names again. Now under the name the USS Phenakite, it was used to patrol the waters of the Florida Keys.
