Guns of the Yacht United States: NRA National Firearms Museum Featured Guns Video

http://www.nationalfirearmsmuseum.org Nine special firearms recently became a set of ten again with the return of a Colt pistol that had been missing for decades.

The private yacht United States once had six Winchester rifles and four Colt handguns as part of the nautical arsenal maintained aboard by owner Colonel Edward Howland Robinson Green, who acquired the United States in 1917. As the son of Hetty Green, dubbed "the witch of Wall Street" and reputedly the richest woman in the world at the time, Col. Green was free to indulge his wish to build "the largest, finest, and costliest privately owned yacht in the world," as Rudder magazine described the United States in 1917. Green's vessel measured 256 feet long, and her original 83 compartments were transformed into nine luxurious staterooms, including a Georgian-styled master suite for Col. Green.

For sea-going shooting, Green ordered a pair of .30-30 Winchester Model 1894 takedown rifles, a .30 Govt. Winchester Model 1895 takedown rifle, and three Winchester Model 1890 .22 rifles. Four Colt semi-automatic pistols were also ordered. Each of these ten guns was engraved "Yacht United States"; the six rifles were factory gold-plated and fitted with checkered birdseye maple stocks. The four semi-automatic pistols were also plated and mounted with finely checkered walnut grip panels.

Col. Green's time to enjoy his yacht was short. Less than two years after its delivery, the United States sank rapidly at anchor after striking a rock. Shallow water made it possible for all of the yacht's valuables to be recovered, including these firearms. In later years, as the collection was transferred from the Green family, one Colt pistol from the original group was lost. The National Firearms Museum acquired the nine-gun group in 2004, as a donation from Eldon J. Owens, a noted New Hampshire collector, who had acquired this collection many years ago.

Last year at an American auction house, the missing pistol surfaced again, and thanks to the National Firearms Museum Endowment, available funds were on hand to allow successful bidding for this historic treasure. Reunited with the other nine guns, all ten of the firearms of the United States are now mounted in their custom mahogany cabinet that was built to house them aboad ship, allowing visitors to see them as Col. Green saw them on what many sailors then considered "the most perfectly fitted vessel afloat."