USS Bobylu

Bobylu as a civilian motorboat sometime between 1915 and 1917
History
United States
Name	USS Bobylu
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Bob Willis, Davis, North Carolina
Completed	1915
Acquired	22 October 1917
Commissioned	22 October 1917
Decommissioned	31 December 1918
Fate	Returned to owners 31 December 1918 [1] or 8 January 1919 [2]
Notes	Operated as civilian motorboat Bobylu 1915–1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Displacement	6 tons
Length	35 ft 10 in (10.92 m)
Beam	10 ft 8 in (3.25 m) [3]
Draft	2 ft 2 in (0.66 m) (aft)
Speed	See note [4]
Complement	4

USS Bobylu (SP-1513) was a motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1918.

USS Bobylu during World War I.

Bobylu was built as a civilian motorboat in 1915 by Bob Willis in Davis, North Carolina. On 15 October 1917, the 5th Naval District inspected her for U.S. Navy use as a patrol boat during World War I, and the Navy ordered her to be acquired the same day. Her owners, the North Carolina Fisheries Commission, delivered her to the Navy at Norfolk, Virginia, on 22 October 1917 for use under a free lease, and she was commissioned the same day as USS Bobylu (SP-1513).

Bobylu was assigned to "general service" during the war, and operated in the 5th Naval District.

On 26 September 1918, the Navy ordered Bobylu returned to the Fisheries Commission. She was decommissioned on 31 December 1918 and returned to the Commission either that day ^[5] or on 8 January 1919. ^[6]

Notes

1. Per the Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images (at http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-b/id1513.htm) and NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/171513.htm)
2. Per the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b7/bobylu-i.htm)
3. The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b7/bobylu-i.htm) gives a beam of "10 feet 18 inches", likely a typographical error for 10 feet 8 inches.
4. According to the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b7/bobylu-i.htm), the boat's speed was "7 miles per hour", a measurement of speed in statute miles per hour not generally used for boats or ships and perhaps a typographical error for 7 knots. If the speed really is given in statute miles per hour, the equivalent in knots is 6.1.
5. Per the Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images (at http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-b/id1513.htm) and NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/171513.htm)
6. Per the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b7/bobylu-i.htm)

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.
• Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Bobylu (ID # 1513), 1917–1918. Originally the Civilian motor boat Bobylu (1915)
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Bobylu (SP 1513)