[4] In 2006 it was moored in Hoboken, New Jersey, in mid-2013 it was moved to the Henry Street pier in the Gowanus Bay Terminal in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and as of 2024 is in Staten Island.

Described as unusually luxurious for a day-voyaging vessel,[6] Yankee was built in 1907 by the Philadelphian shipbuilding company Neafie & Levy for the Casco Bay and Harpswell Line.

Machigonne began her service life ferrying passengers between Portland, Maine and the Calendar Islands in Casco Bay.

During the war, the ship was armed with two one-pounder guns for defense, and used to transport men and supplies between Boston and Bumpkin Island Training Station.

For the next eight years, Machigonne was used to ferry newly arriving immigrants from their incoming ships to Ellis Island, and thenceforth to the mainland.

[9] In 1947, the vessel had her original steam propulsion replaced with a 900 Hp GM diesel from a LST, was renamed Yankee and used to transport vacationers from Providence to Block Island, a task that apparently continued for several decades.

[10] The vessel was finally retired from commercial service after the 1983 summer season which included a charter to the America's Cup Races off of Newport, RI.

It was later towed to Providence, RI and docked very close to where she used to depart from for Block Island service and was neglected and became a target for vandals.

[6] In 1990, the by-now dilapidated Yankee was bought by a private citizen, Jim Gallagher, who towed it to Pier 25, Tribeca, Manhattan, where he began working on its restoration.