A faithful ship which has long withstood the ordeals of the sea becomes something more than a mere fabric of steel and wood. She seems almost sentient, like a living thing to those who have shared her fortunes, and therein is the immemorial romance which the sea peculiarly vouchsafes. It is obvious to sailor-men that these many years of fidelity, in winter gales and summer breezes, should have endeared the _Corsair_ to her owners, father and son. Designed by J. Beavor Webb, the yacht was built for offshore work, although not with the expectation that she would be used as a “fourth-rate gunboat” in the Bay of Biscay for a year and a half on end. This was too much to ask of a vessel so planned and arranged, but like the men of the Navy she proved that she could do a little better than her best. Her length was three hundred and four feet, with a beam of thirty-three and a half feet, a draft of seventeen feet, and a measurement of sixteen hundred tons—noble dimensions for a pleasure craft. The unusual speed of nineteen knots was maintained, when necessary, in the war zone. Her yachting complement comprised fifty-five officers and men. With spacious decks and living quarters, the _Corsair_ was rather comfortable than ornate. Captain William B. Porter had been in command of her for sixteen years. He was a deep-water sailor whose youth had known a merchant marine now vanished, the stately sailing ships from ports “down east” which lifted sky sail yards to the breath of the Pacific trades or snugged down to breast the tempests of Cape Horn. He knew shipwreck and the peril and misery of an open boat adrift in Far Eastern seas. He had gone into steam, at first on the China coast, and later he became an officer in the American Line. During the Spanish War he served on the auxiliary cruiser _Yale_ with the naval rank of lieutenant (junior grade), and was given command of the Spanish Steamer _Rita_ which was captured as a prize and used as a transport. When the _Corsair_ was taken over by the Navy, it was ruled that all vessels of this class should be commanded by an officer of the regular service. Captain Porter was appointed executive officer of the yacht, which position he held until promoted to command during her second year of duty in foreign waters.