Few yachts have histories as storied, or as worth preserving, as Atlantide. The 122-foot (37-meter) motorsailer first splashed in 1930, built as Caleta by Phillip and Sons of Dartmouth, U.K. Her original owner was Sir William Burton, who used her as a tender for his yachts until she was conscripted into service for Operation Dynamo, helping to evacuate the Allied forces from Dunkirk.
That, alone, would make her notable in today’s global fleet, but she took on yet another new life after the war. A few ofF them, actually. There was a two-year rebuild at Thornycroft in Southampton, England, by a Greek shipping magnate who relaunched her as Ariane in 1948. The yacht then became a fixture of the Mediterranean cruising scene for decades before being named Atlantide in the…