Specifications: Wood-Hull; Displacement 270 t.; Length 136'; Beam 24' 6"; Draft 8'; Speed 15 kts; Complement 150 guests; Propulsion two 880bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts, weight 340 ton.

During WWII she was YMS-328, a small yard-class minesweeper built by the Ballard Marine Railway in Ballard, Washington (Seattle). Transferred to the Navy base at Bremerton, Wash., following her duty in the Aleutians, YMS-328 was decommissioned and sold to Canadian yachtsman Harold A. Jones in 1948. Subsequently sold twice more to wealthy Americans, it was purchased by Wayne in 1965 for $116,000 and converted to the luxury yacht Wild Goose. Wayne first raised the overhead in most of the interior by six to eight inches to accommodate his 6-foot, 4 inch frame. He completely refurbished the ship, adding a custom interior featuring dark wood paneled walls, a master stateroom, quarters for children and guests, a wet bar and a poker table. Wayne hired a full-time crew of four, homeported the Wild Goose outside his home in Newport Beach in Orange County, and took countless trips on the vessel to Mexico, Oregon, Washington State and Canada. Entertaining passengers such as Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin and Pres. Richard Nixon during these voyages, Wayne was “in his prime as the owner of one of the world’s most famous private yachts,” says its former captain, Bert Minshall. Shawn Ware, captain of the Wild Goose, says the ship’s original twin-diesel engines are still is good shape and the Wild Goose is drydocked once a year for maintenance, hull cleaning and painting.

John Wayne was a passionate lover of the sea, and today, 29 years after his death at the age of 72, his famed yacht the Wild Goose is still plying the Pacific, a living reminder of the screen actor whose motion picture career began in 1926 when he appeared as a Yale football hero in the film “Brown of Harvard.” Two months before his death in 1979, Wayne sold the Wild Goose for $750,000 to Los Angeles attorney Lynn Hutchins.

Main Deck

As a standout member of the Hornblower fleet, the Wild Goose can accommodate up to 150 guests as no other yacht can. Wild Goose's three decks provide unlimited versatility. Guests can explore and mingle in the five elegant staterooms, tastefully appointed with rich woodwork and furniture.