Presidential yacht Sequoia

st2girls ,

Thanks for your question!  You may want to contact the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library directly. A quick search of the National Archives catalog returns only one digitized photo of the Sequoia during FDR's presidency:

Eleanor Roosevelt on USS Sequoia, NAID: 196625, Collection FDR-PHOCO: Franklin D. Roosevelt Library Public Domain Photographs, Series: Franklin D. Roosevelt Library Public Domain Photographs

I know FDR Presidential yacht was called the  USS  Potomac. What is the Sequoia?

It was the Presidential yacht before the USS Potomac.  Appears Herbert Hoover is the first to designate it as such and FDR used it until it was deemed not secure enough.

There is a book on Ebay by Giles M. Kelly "Sequoia: Presidential Yacht"  Schiffer Publishing, 2004) which may have current photos. Kelly was skipper of the Sequoia and his wife Ann Stevens included her photographs in the book.  It is only $26 and is a hardcover book.  

Thank you Roseann!  I will check it out. 

It would be interesting to have a side by side comparison of the two vessels Sequoia and Potomac.

So one could discover the improvements to Potomac. Metrics like length, hull shape, even HP of the engines, 

speed in knots, manufacturer, etc.  Looking at the pics I believe the Potomac could make better speed and

perhaps more armor due to WW2.

Wikipedia has a fascinating read with an article of the Sequoia  <click here

It may be helpful to your purpose 

Especially to see the Wiki  Commons for photos. Good collection.

-RKO

Sequoia was not "officially" designated the Presidential yacht until FDR.  During the Hoover administration, Sequoia was owned by the Commerce Department and was officially used for inspection duties;  President Hoover just borrowed her from time to time.  For more information, see hoover.blogs.archives.gov/.../

Sequoia was essentially a large houseboat, Potomac was a converted Coast Guard cutter.  Both were much smaller than the previous Presidential yacht, Mayflower.  For official histories and dimensions of all three ships, see the Navy History and Heritage Command website:

www.history.navy.mil/.../sequoia-ii.html

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/potomac-iv.html

www.history.navy.mil/.../mayflower-ii.html