Cleopatra's Barge was the first oceangoing yacht built in the United States. It was built in 1816 at Salem, MA by shipbuilder Retire Becket for owner George Crowninshield Jr. Crowninshield died in 1817 after a single pleasure voyage to the Mediterranean; his brother Richard bought it, used it for two coastal trading voyages, and then sold it to Boston China traders Bryant & Sturgis and Capt. John Suter in early 1820. Suter sailed it to Hawai'i and sold it to Hawaiian monarch Kamehameha II (aka Liloliho) for slightly more than a million pounds of sandalwood. Liholiho used it as his private yacht, renaming it Haaheo o Hawaii ("Pride of Hawaii") in 1822 after a rebuild. Under an all-Hawaiian crew, Ha'aheo wrecked in Hanalei Bay, Kaua'i, Hawai'i in April 1824.
Building
In the 18th century the Crowninshield family of Salem, Massachusetts had a thriving shipping business. In the American Revolution and War of 1812, many of the family merchant vessels were converted to privateers, and the family made huge fortunes. The elder George Crowninshield (born in 1733) died in 1815, and his five sons inherited the business. Eldest son George Crowninshield Jr. (1766–1817) commissioned a pleasure yacht originally called the ship Car of Concordia. At registration he renamed it Cleopatra's Barge for the pleasure barge of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII, based on a passage in the play Antony and Cleopatra. It was built by Retire Becket of Salem and launched October 21, 1816. At a time when all American ships were either merchant or naval vessels, the concept of a pleasure yacht was unique.
Cleopatra's Barge was long at the waterline, wide, and weighed 192 tons. It had two masts in the configuration known as a hermaphrodite brig: square-rigged forward and schooner-rigged aft. This made it fast but required a relatively small crew. It cost about US$50,000 to build, and about the same amount was spent for fitting out and luxury furnishings. The main cabin was by , with mahogany panels inlaid with other decorative wood. Furniture was covered in red velvet with gold lace, and the kitchen included custom silver, china, and formal glassware. The starboard side was painted in colorful horizontal stripes, and the port side a herring-bone pattern. It even boasted indoor plumbing.
On December 6, 1816, the ship was opened for public tours, and it became a popular attraction for thousands of people. After a one-day trial sail, an unusually cold winter froze the ship into dock for the winter. On January 14, 1817, the Salem Gazette reported:"The elegant equipment of this vessel, by Mr. Crowninshield, for a voyage of pleasure, as it is an entire novelty in this country, has excited universal curiosity and admiration."
Atlantic
Starting on March 30, 1817, it became the first American pure pleasure craft to sail across the Atlantic. The owner's brother Benjamin Williams Crowninshield was United States Secretary of the Navy, so provided letters of introduction from Secretary of State James Monroe and Ambassador to Great Britain John Quincy Adams. Adams' grandson John Quincy Adams II would later marry George Crowninshield Jr.'s grandniece.
An older cousin Benjamin Crowninshield (1758–1836), former lieutenant of the privateer Black Watch during the American Revolution and commanding officer of the privateer Alexander during the War of 1812, was master of the ship. He brought his son Benjamin Crowninshield Jr. (1782–1864) who kept a log book including sketches and watercolors recording the journey. On a six-month cruise in the Mediterranean, large crowds of up to 8,000 individuals gathered to tour the yacht at each port. They reached Faial Island (which they called Fayal) in the Azores, April 24 where the American Consul gave a ball in their honor. Then they visited Funchal on the island of Madeira, Gibraltar, Málaga and other ports on the southern coast of Spain. In Marseilles the ship was repainted and redecorated. Next stops were Toulon in France and Genoa in Italy where they met astronomer Franz Xaver von Zach.