Willits J. Hole Owner of Elvida and Samona II

In the last posts I mentioned this man as the one who had the YP-109 Elvida built.

From Wikipedia.

1858-1938

American businessman and real estate developer of Southern California.   Known as the "Father of La Habra, California."

In the early 1920s, Hole took up boating and since he was quite rich by then, he had the yacht built for him.

Naval architect Leslie Edward Geary designed it and N.J. Blanchard built the 115-foot Samona in 1923.  (It was renamed Elvida when sold.)   In 1931, the Craig Shipbuilding Company built the 147-foot, steel-hulled long range cruiser Samona II, which was bought by the U.S. Navy in 1940, and commissioned as the USS Amethyst (PYc-3).

--GreGen