12' Rhodes-Dyer Jolly Boat (1939)

This is a 1939 12’ Dyer “Jolly Boat” designed by Philip Rhodes and built by The Anchorage, Inc. in Rhode Island, USA. The boat is undergoing a sympathetic restoration.

The original owner was Joaquin M. Elizalde, Resident Commissioner of the Philippines and later the first Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Elizalde purchased the boat in 1939 to serve as a tender for his 1935 70’ Alden motor yacht LIMBAS. In 1942, Philippine President Quezon, in exile in Washington, donated LIMBAS to the U.S. Coast Guard for patrol service. The yacht was renamed BATAAN, CG-68009, and manned by an all Filipino crew. Under the command of Ltjg. Juan Lacson, one of the first Filipinos to earn a USCG commission, BATAAN and her crew served with distinction in the Caribbean and San Francisco. Lacson would earn a Congressional Medal of Honor and go on to found the Iloilo Maritime Academy, now known as the John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University.

When and how the jolly boat was separated from LIMBAS/BATAAN, and the ultimate fate of the latter, are currently unknown.