The Star of Scotland's history is colorful from the onset.  She was christened HMS Mistletoe and launched in 1918 as a Q-boat in England's Royal Navy.  Her task was to lure enemy submarines into thinking they were stalking a slow freighter.  When the U-boat captain would surface to shell the seemingly helpless vessel, facade deck structures and bulwarks fell away to reveal heavy deck guns and depth charge racks and throwers!  Disguised and highly trained British crews were very effective against the marauding submarines. <P>After the war, the 263-foot ship performed survey and freighter duties along the Pacific Coast under the names Chiapas and La Playa de Ensenada.  In 1933 she appeared in Santa Monica Bay offering "dolls, drinks, and dice" on "Cruises to Nowhere" under the names City of Panama, Star of Hollywood, and Texas.  Huge profits, scandal, and eventually murder ended this segment of her history. <P>In the late 1930s, she was turned into a fishing barge and deluxe dining and dancing facility and renamed the Star of Scotland.  But in the fall of 1941, long overdue for a haulout, the Star began leaking from the constant pounding of shore boats against her hull. <P>Because her propellers had been removed, she couldn't get to an available shipyard, and only minor repairs were made to keep her afloat.  It wasn't enough.  In January 1942, ocean swells caused additional leaks below decks.  Pumps held back the incoming water until a major storm provided the fatal blow, and the Star of Scotland sank in less than two minutes.