 In 1920 Davis purchased , an obsolete ex-Royal Navy sailing cruiser of 4,050 tons that had been used as a submarine depot ship and repair workshop on the River Medway.Davis donated it in memory of his son to the Union of South Africa Defence Force for use as a training ship for cadets.The ship was renamed "General Botha Memorial Training Ship" and was christened by Mrs Issie Smuts, wife of the Prime Minister, on 1 April 1922.