George Washington Vanderbilt III (September 23, 1914 – June 24, 1961) was an American yachtsman and scientific explorer who was a member of the prominent Vanderbilt family. Early life Born in Newport, Rhode Island, he was the younger son of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt and Margaret Emerson. He was the brother of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. and a half-brother to William Henry Vanderbilt III from his father's first marriage to Ellen "Elsie" French. In 1915, when George was less than a year old, his father perished in the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. His inheritance was estimated as high as . He received the first quarter of his inheritance at 21, then 25, 30, and the last at 35. His mother, Margaret, remarried two more times, first to Raymond T. Baker, with whom she had a daughter, Gloria Baker (1920–1975), and second, to Charles Minot Amory. He was a grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and Alice Claypoole Gwynne and was named in honor of his great-great-uncle George Washington Vanderbilt and his great-uncle George Washington Vanderbilt II. Vanderbilt's maternal grandfather, Isaac Edward Emerson, was a very wealthy businessman who made a fortune in a variety of business ventures including patent medicines, the most notable of which was Bromo-Seltzer. A sailing enthusiast, Emerson instilled a love for the sport in young George from an early age and as an adult, he used his sailing skills and wealth for scientific research. He attended the St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire and the Adirondack-Florida School studying at the Saranac branch in New York as well as in Miami. Career In 1936 and 1937, George Vanderbilt sponsored a renewal of auto races for the Vanderbilt Cup, founded by his uncle, William Kissam Vanderbilt II, in 1904. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy like his two brothers. He was promoted to lieutenant on May 1, 1943, and received the Legion of Merit award. Scientific research Vanderbilt did not attend college, but by the time he turned 21, he had already led two expeditions to Panama and Africa, with some lasting up to 10 months, bringing back various snakes, fish, insects and birds. In 1937, he went on a six month with the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences to the South Seas, bringing back 20,000 species of birds, fish and reptiles. He owned several yachts and used them to conduct scientific expeditions all