USS Romain

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USS Romain (IX-89) was a small auxiliary wooden schooner that briefly served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Built in 1937 as Mérida by Symonette Ship Building Co., the Navy acquired her on 18 August 1942 and she was commissioned on 25 November 1942. Based at Port Everglades, Florida, she patrolled the Florida coast and the Bahama Islands as part of the 7th Naval District. Her Navy service lasted only about four months, ending 17 March 1943; she was struck from the Naval Register on 28 June 1944. On 3 January 1945 she was transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal and sold back to her original owner, Robert C. Rathbone, under later names Debotha 5th and Salt Air II in 1947; she was taken out of documentation in 1950 and her ultimate fate is unknown. The ship was 84 feet long, 20 feet 9 inches wide, with a 9-foot draft, powered by a gas engine, and had a crew of 10. It was named for a cape on the coast of South Carolina and carried the radio callsign NZHS.