Armed yacht

Last updated
The British anti-submarine yacht HMS Tuscarora during World War II. It had been built in 1897 as a luxury steam yacht. HMS Tuscarora FL20328.jpg
The British anti-submarine yacht HMS Tuscarora during World War II. It had been built in 1897 as a luxury steam yacht.

An armed yacht was a yacht that was armed with weapons and was typically in the service of a navy. The word "yacht" ("hunter"; Dutch "jacht"; [1] German "jagd", [2] literally meaning "to hunt") was originally applied to small, fast and agile naval vessels suited to piracy and to employment by navies and coast guards against smugglers and pirates. Vessels of this type were adapted to racing by wealthy owners. The origin of civilian yachts as naval vessels, with their speed and maneuverability, made them useful for adaptation to their original function as patrol vessels. In the United States Navy armed yachts were typically private yachts expropriated for government use in times of war. Armed yachts served as patrol vessels during the Spanish–American War and the World Wars. In the latter conflicts, armed yachts were used as patrol vessels, convoy escorts, and in anti-submarine duties. In the United States, yachts were purchased from their owners with the owners given an option to repurchase their yacht at the close of hostilities.

Contents

History

Spanish–American War

World War I

Before the outbreak of war in Europe, there had been much discussion in the United Kingdom of a wartime role for privately owned motor and steam yachts and smaller power boats. This led to Admiral Sir Frederick Inglefield forming a Motor Boat Reserve Committee in 1912 to consider whether this would be useful and how it could be achieved. In early 1914 the Admiralty created a Motor Boat Reserve with experienced volunteers from various yacht clubs. At the start of the war in August 1914, the reserve was activated under the title Royal Naval Motor Boat Reserve (RNMBR). Eventually, the RNMBR was incorporated into the Auxiliary Patrol and its crews into the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR). [3] By December 1914, each sea area of the British Isles was allocated a dedicated unit of the Auxiliary Patrol, typically comprising six armed trawlers or drifters and a single armed yacht, together with smaller motor boats, with the roles of harbour defence, mine clearance and anti-submarine patrolling. [4] The crews were augmented by volunteers from all over the British Empire. By 1917, there were 150 patrol units, each led by an armed yacht, usually equipped with radio. [5] In the course of the war, a total of 159 motor yachts were hired by the Admiralty, some serving as far away as the Dardanelles. [6] The British armed yacht HMS Lorna destroyed the German U-boat SM UB-74 with depth charges off Portland Bill in May 1918. [7] A number of motor yachts operated as patrol boats in the waters of British Dominions and colonies, including Nusa, a German yacht which was captured in the Solomon Islands in September 1914 and was later used by the Royal Australian Navy in their home waters. [8]

USS Hauoli, a former luxury steam yacht. This patrol vessel served as USS California from December 1917 until February 1918 in the harbor defense role, when she was renamed Hauoli and used for anti-submarine research. USS Hauoli (SP-249).jpg
USS Hauoli, a former luxury steam yacht. This patrol vessel served as USS California from December 1917 until February 1918 in the harbor defense role, when she was renamed Hauoli and used for anti-submarine research.

On the entry of the United States into the war in April 1917, a large number of motor yachts were acquired by the US Navy and Coast Guard. In the coastal waters of France, there was a considerable U-boat threat to the shipping required to transport and supply the American Expeditionary Force, and the only available warships were six armed yachts which were formed into the US Patrol Squadron Operating in European Waters. The squadron left New York Navy Yard on 4 June 1917 and crossing via Bermuda and the Azores, arrived in Brest on 4 July. A second and third squadron arrived during the same month, their colourful dazzle camouflage giving rise to the nickname "the Easter egg fleet". Reinforcements of armed trawlers and destroyers arrived in October, however the yachts remained active with the force until the end of the war. Surfaced U-boats were engaged with gunfire in the early months and in 1918, two submarines were claimed to have been destroyed with depth charges, but neither of these claims were supported by post-war research. [9]

World War II

During World War II, the US navy commandeered small vessels, including private yachts, and requisitioned them to patrol US coastal waters and the Gulf of Mexico against German U-boats. In the Gulf, the boats ventured out for 12 miles. The US Coast Guard Auxiliary was formed to man the vessels, but their crews were inexperienced and untrained. They had absolutely no navigation equipment, and, consequently, the crew often had no idea where they were. The boats were equipped with radios, which, in theory, were to be used to report any U-boat sightings. In practice, however, reporting a U-boat's position was impossible due to the crew's lack of bearings. The men on board spent their time scanning the horizon with binoculars, having been given pictures and silhouettes of the different types of U-boats so that they would be able to identify them. [10]

Some of these boats were armed with a .50 caliber machine gun in the bow and four depth charges on racks in the stern, although actually attacking a U-boat was probably suicidal. The lopsided battle would have conceivably ended with the U-boat using its deck guns to blow up the patrol yacht (since scoring a hit with a torpedo was improbable). [11]

The Royal Canadian Navy also commandeered and used armed yachts and other such vessels for anti-submarine patrols, having 12 of them. [12]

Notable armed yachts

The Canadian armed yacht HMCS Renard in World War II. The same yacht had served as USS Winchester in World War I. HMCS Renard (S13).jpg
The Canadian armed yacht HMCS Renard in World War II. The same yacht had served as USS Winchester in World War I.

Canada

United Kingdom

United States

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Q-ship</span> Heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry

Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open fire and sink them. The use of Q-ships contributed to the abandonment of cruiser rules restricting attacks on unarmed merchant ships and to the shift to unrestricted submarine warfare in the 20th century.

USS <i>Absegami</i> Patrol vessel of the United States Navy

USS Absegami (SP-371) was a motorboat acquired on a free lease by the United States Navy during World War I. She was outfitted as an armed patrol craft and assigned to patrol the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Cape May, New Jersey on the Delaware Bay. When the Navy found her excess to their needs, she was returned to her former owner.

USS Niagara may refer to the following ships of the United States Navy:

USS <i>Winchester</i> Patrol vessel of the United States Navy

USS Winchester (SP-156) was an armed yacht that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919. Prior to and following World War I, Winchester was a private yacht, later renamed Renard. In World War II, Renard was requisitioned for use in the Royal Canadian Navy as a patrol vessel, keeping her name. She was returned to her owners in 1944.

USS <i>Isabel</i> Patrol vessel of the United States Navy

USS Isabel (SP-521), later PY-10, was a yacht in commission in the United States Navy as a destroyer from 1917 to 1920 and as a patrol yacht from 1921 to 1946.

USS <i>Tarantula</i> (SP-124) Former yacht and US Navy patrol boat (1912–1918)

USS Tarantula (SP-124) was a patrol boat in the United States Navy. She was named after the tarantula.

USS <i>Natchez</i> (PF-2) River-class frigate of the U.S. Navy

USS Natchez (PG-102/PF-2) was a River-class frigate acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. She was originally ordered and laid down as HMS Annan for the Royal Navy, and renamed as HMCS Annan for the Royal Canadian Navy before transfer to the U.S. Navy before launch. She was used for anti-submarine patrol work during the war.

USS <i>Cythera</i> (PY-26)

The first USS Cythera (SP-575/PY-26) was a United States Navy patrol vessel that saw service in the Atlantic Ocean during both World War I and World War II.

Castle-class trawler

The Castle-class minesweeper was a highly seaworthy naval trawler adapted for patrol, anti-submarine warfare and minesweeping duties and built to Admiralty specifications. Altogether 197 were built in the United Kingdom between 1916 and 1919, with others built in Canada, India and later New Zealand. Many saw service in the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval trawler</span> Vessel built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes

Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built to naval specifications, others adapted from civilian use. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust vessels designed to work heavy trawls in all types of weather, and had large clear working decks. A minesweeper could be created by replacing the trawl with a mine sweep. Adding depth charge racks on the deck, ASDIC sonar below, and a 3-inch (76 mm) or 4-inch (102 mm) gun in the bow equipped the trawler for anti-submarine duties.

USS <i>Wakiva II</i>

USS Wakiva II (SP-160), often referred to as USS Wakiva, was an armed yacht that served in the United States Navy from 1917 to 1918 and saw combat in World War I. She was originally the yacht SS Wakiva II built for Lamon V. Harkness in Scotland.

USS <i>Arawan II</i>

USS Arawan II (SP-1) was a motor yacht that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1918.

USS <i>Tacony</i> (SP-5) Patrol vessel of the United States Navy

The second USS Tacony (SP-5) was an armed yacht that served in the United States Navy as a Section patrol vessel from 24 May 1917 to 29 November 1918. The yacht had been built in 1911 by the Mathis Yacht Building Company at Camden, New Jersey for John Fred Betz, III, of Essington, Pennsylvania and member of the Philadelphia Yacht Club as Sybilla II. The vessel was Mathis yard number seven with 208469 the official number issued.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Lawley & Son</span>

George Lawley & Son was a shipbuilding firm operating in Massachusetts from 1866 to 1945. It began in Scituate, then moved to Boston. After founder George Lawley (1823–1915) retired in 1890, his son, grandson and great-grandson upheld the business, which continued until 1945. Of the hundreds of ships built by the Lawleys, highlights include the yachts Puritan and Mayflower, respective winners of the 1885 and 1886 America's Cup.

HMCS <i>Raccoon</i>

HMCS Raccoon was an armed yacht that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. Purchased by the Royal Canadian Navy in 1940, the ship was originally known as the yacht Halonia. Used as a patrol vessel and convoy escort, the ship was sunk by the German submarine U-165 in the St. Lawrence River on 7 September 1942. Raccoon was escorting Convoy QS-33 at the time. The entire ship's crew was lost.

USS <i>Audwin</i> Patrol vessel of the United States Navy

USS Audwin (SP-451) was a patrol vessel that served in the United States Navy from 1917 to 1919. She then was a survey vessel in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1919 to 1927.

HMS Lorna was a British armed yacht which served in the Royal Navy. Originally built in 1904 as a luxury steam yacht, she served in both the First and Second World Wars and destroyed a German U-boat in 1918. After the war, she became a passenger vessel in Greece, but sank in 1966 and was scrapped two years later.

HMCS <i>Wolf</i>

HMCS Wolf was an armed yacht of the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II that saw service on the British Columbia Coast of Canada. Constructed in 1915 as the yacht Wenowah, with the US entry into World War I, the vessel was taken into United States Navy service as USS Wenonah (SP-165) as a patrol ship. The vessel escorted convoys between the United States and Europe and between Gibraltar and Bizerte, Tunis and Genoa, Italy. After the war, Wenonah was loaned to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey for three and a half years before being sold to private interests in 1928. In private ownership, the vessel was renamed at least twice, including Stranger and Blue Water.

Ships numbered 177 include:

References

  1. ↑ Etymology Online: Yacht
  2. ↑ Etymology Online: Jager
  3. ↑ Davies, Charles (2013). "The Inception and Early Days of the Auxiliary Patrol" . Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  4. ↑ Faulkner, Marcus (23 September 2015). The Great War at Sea: A Naval Atlas 1914-1919. Seaforth Publishing. p. 66. ISBN   978-1848321830.
  5. ↑ "World War One: New Zealand's War at Sea - Ancillary Forces - Auxiliary Patrol". navymuseum.co.nz. Torpedo Bay Navy Museum. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  6. ↑ Dittmar, F J. "World War 1 at Sea - Ships of the Royal Navy, 1914-1919 - AUXILIARY PATROL VESSELS, Part 1, Yachts to Trawlers". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  7. ↑ Gray, Edwin A (1994). The U-Boat War: 1914-1918. Pen & Sword Books Ltd. p. 249. ISBN   978-0850524055.
  8. ↑ Dittmar, F J. "World War 1 at Sea - Ships of the Royal Navy, 1914-1919 - SUPPORT and HARBOUR VESSELS". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  9. ↑ Husband, Joseph. "World War 1 - Contemporary Accounts - ON THE COAST OF FRANCE: The Story of the United States Naval Forces in French Waters". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "- YouTube". YouTube .
  11. ↑ "- YouTube". YouTube .
  12. ↑ "The Ships". 31 March 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.