USS Fulton (SP-247)

Last updated
Fulton 1909 aka USS Fulton (SP-247).jpg
Lackawanna Railroad tugboat Fulton
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Fulton
Namesake Robert Fulton
Builder Staten Island Shipbuilding Company, Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York
Completed1909
Acquired30 April 1917
RenamedUSS SP-247 11 April 1918
FateReturned to owner 12 August 1919
NotesOperated as civilian vessel Fulton 1909-1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type Minesweeper / tugboat
Tonnage229  GRT, 156  NRT
Length93.5 ft (28.5 m)
Beam25.2 ft (7.7 m)
Draft11.0 ft (3.4 m)
Depth12.1 ft (3.7 m)
Installed power850 ihp (630 kW)
PropulsionSingle compound steam engine, one shaft
Complement
  • 7
  • 18 as mine sweeper
Armamentsingle 1-pounder gun
Notessteel hull

The fourth USS Fulton (SP-247), later USS SP-247, was a commercial tug built in 1909. [Note 1] She was commissioned by the United States Navy and served as a minesweeper in 1917 in the Third Naval District and returned to her previous owners two years later. She remained in service, latterly as Catherine Carroll, at least into the 1960s.

Contents

Construction and commercial service

Fulton was built as a steel-hulled tug in 1909 by the Staten Island Shipbuilding Company at Port Richmond on Staten Island, New York as Yard Number 489. [1] The tug had a length of 93.5 ft (28.5 m), a beam of 25.2 ft (7.7 m), a depth of 12.1 ft (3.7 m) and a draft of 11.0 ft (3.4 m). She measured 229  GRT and 156  NRT and was powered by a compound steam engine of 850 ihp (630 kW) driving a single propeller. [2] [3]

The tug was built for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Co. to tow barges carrying rail cars. [1] She was registered at New York, with US Official Number 207060 and call-sign LBHQ. [2] The vessel was named after Robert Fulton who was honored in New York City's Hudson–Fulton Celebration in 1909 on the centenary of his development of practical steamship technology.

World War I service

The U.S. Navy acquired her under charter on 30 April 1917 for service as a Section mine sweeper. [4] After arming with a single 1-pounder gun, she was commissioned as USS Fulton (SP-247) on 22 September with two officers and sixteen men assigned to the Third Naval District. [4] [5] On 11 April 1918 her official name was reduced to SP-247. [6]

The Navy returned Fulton to her previous owner on 12 August 1919. [6]

Return to commercial service

In 1919 Fulton resumed service with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. [7] By 1958 she had been sold to Tug Fulton Corp., New York and renamed Catherine Carroll. [8] The tug continued in service until at least 1964. [9]

Notes

  1. ↑ This Fulton should not be confused with the submarine tender USS Fulton (AS-1), which was in commission at the same time.

Related Research Articles

USS <i>A. G. Prentiss</i> Tugboat of the United States Navy

A. G. Prentiss was the 46 GRT wooden-hulled commercial vessel A. G. Prentiss launched 6 February 1912, by the Charles Ward Shipyard in Kennebunk, Maine, registered with official number 209585, for passenger service with home port at Saco, Maine. The vessel was named for Alfred G. Prentiss, owner of other tugs and a grain and groceries business. Despite the odd registration as "passenger" service when "tow" is one of the options, the vessel was well documented as a tug boat operating on the Saco River in Maine.

USS <i>Impetuous</i>

USS Impetuous (PYc-46) was a private yacht purchased by the Navy in August 1940 that served as a patrol boat of the United States Navy in Central America. The yacht was built as Paragon, the first of at least two Davol yachts to bear the name, in 1915 for Charles J. Davol of Providence, Rhode Island. In 1916 Davol sold the yacht to John Fred Betz, 3d of Philadelphia who renamed the yacht Sybilla III which served as the Section Patrol yacht USS Sybilla III (SP-104) from May 1917 to December 1918. Sybilla III remained in Betz's ownership until sale in 1935 to R. Livingston Sullivan of Philadelphia who renamed the yacht Arlis. On 12 August 1940 the Navy purchased the yacht placing it in commission as USS PC-454 on 16 October. The vessel was given the name Impetuous and reclassified PYc-46 on 15 July 1943. The yacht was decommissioned at Philadelphia 31 August 1944 and transferred to the War Shipping Administration for sale.

USS <i>Allentown</i> Tacoma-class patrol frigate

USS Allentown (PF-52), a United States Navy Tacoma-class frigate in commission from 1944 to 1945, has thus far been the only U.S. Navy ship to be named for Allentown, Pennsylvania. She later served in the Soviet Navy as EK-9 and in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force as JDS Ume (PF-9), JDS Ume (PF-289) and as YAC-14.

USS <i>Patuxent</i> (AT-11) Minesweeper of the United States Navy

The first USS Patuxent was a fleet tug in commission in the United States Navy from 1909 to 1924. She served the United States Atlantic Fleet and saw service in World War I. After the end of her Navy career, she was in commission in the United States Bureau of Fisheries from 1926 to 1932 as the fisheries research ship USFS Albatross II.

USS <i>Kanawha II</i> United States Navy patrol vessel

USS Kanawha II (SP-130), later called USS Piqua (SP-130), was a steam yacht that was built in 1899, and which the United States Navy used as an armed yacht in the First World War. She was commissioned in 1917 as Kanawha II, with the "II" added probably to distinguish her from the oiler USS Kanawha (AO-1). She was renamed Piqua in 1918, probably for the same reason.

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

USS Druid (SP-321) was a private yacht launched 10 February 1902 as Rheclair that was built for Daniel G. Reid. Reid sold the yacht to Senator Nelson W. Aldrich who renamed the yacht Nirvana only just over a year before his death. Aldrich's estate chartered Nirvana to John Wanamaker until it was bought by his son Rodman Wanamaker who used the yacht for cruising until a fire on 14 December 1916, just before a cruise south, severely damaged the vessel. He chartered an alternate vessel for his trip south and, after full repairs, the yacht was sold to Walter W. Dwyer who gave it the name Druid with intentions to sell the yacht to the government in order to finance a shipyard venture in Pensacola, Florida.

USS <i>Margaret</i> (SP-328)

USS Margaret (SP-328) was a menhaden fishing trawler acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was configured by the Navy as a Section mine sweeper. Postwar she was sold, resuming commercial fishing as Margaret. With World War II the vessel was acquired by the U.S. Coast Guard, serving from December 1942 to June 1943 as an emergency manned vessel. Margaret resumed menhaden fishing and was shown as active in the U.S. register as late as 1968.

USS <i>Zenith</i> Armed motorboat in the United States Navy

USS Zenith (SP-61) was an armed motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a Section patrol vessel from 1917 to 1918.

USS <i>Wachusetts</i> (SP-548)

USS Wachusetts (SP-548) was an armed motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919. She was renamed SP-548 during her period of service. In 1919 she was transferred to the United States Bureau of Fisheries and renamed USFS Fulmar, and operated as a fisheries science research vessel on the Great Lakes until 1933 or 1934, when she was transferred to the Ohio Division of Conservation.

<i>Bouker No. 2</i>

Bouker No. 2, originally Robert Rogers, was a tugboat built in 1904 for merchant service in and around the waters of New York City. During World War I, the tug was commissioned into the United States Navy as USS Bouker No. 2 (SP-1275), and continued in naval service until 1921. Briefly considered for service as a fireboat in Norfolk, Virginia, she was instead returned to merchant service in 1922 as a tugboat, under the name New York Marine Co. No. 6. She was sunk in collision with a passenger steamer in 1926.

USC&GS <i>Natoma</i> Patrol vessel of the United States Navy

USC&GS Natoma was built as the private motorboat Natoma in 1913 for Charles H. Foster, President of the Cadillac Motor Car Company of Chicago. In 1917 the United States Navy acquired the boat for use in World War I. The vessel was commissioned USS Natoma for Section Patrol duties and designated SP-666. Natoma spent the war years patrolling New York harbor and approaches. On 9 April 1919 the boat was transferred to United States Coast and Geodetic Survey surveying on both coasts until 1935.

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

USS Coco (SP-110) was an armed motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a Section patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919.

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

USS Owera (SP-167), was an armed yacht that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919. The vessel, under the name O-We-Ra, was built as a steam yacht in Leith, Scotland in 1907 for Frederick H. Stevens of Buffalo, New York. In 1915 the yacht was sold to United States Senator Peter G. Gerry of Rhode Island and registered in Providence, Rhode Island as Owera.

USS Lowell (SP-504) was a United States Navy patrol vessel and minesweeper in commission from 1917 to 1919.

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

USS Legonia II (SP-399) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1921.

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

USS Raeo (SP-588) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919. Prior to her U.S. Navy service, she operated as the motor passenger vessel Raeo from 1908 to 1917. After the conclusion of her U.S. Navy career, she served as the fishery patrol vessel USFS Kittiwake in the United States Bureau of Fisheries fleet from 1919 to 1940 and as US FWS Kittiwake in the Fish and Wildlife Service fleet from 1940 to 1942 and from 1944 to at least 1945, and perhaps as late as 1948. During World War II, she again served in the U.S. Navy, this time as the yard patrol boat USS YP-199. She was the civilian fishing vessel Raeo from 1948 to 1957, then operated in various roles as Harbor Queen from 1957 to 1997. She became Entiat Princess in 1998 and as of 2009 was still in service.

USS <i>Calypso</i> (SP-632) Patrol vessel of the United States Navy

The second USS Calypso (SP-632) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919. She originally operated as the private motorboat Calypso from 1909 to 1917. After the conclusion of her U.S. Navy career, she served as the fishery patrol vessel in the United States Bureau of Fisheries fleet from 1919 to 1940 as USFS Merganser and in the Fish and Wildlife Service fleet as US FWS Merganser from 1940 to 1942.

USS <i>Polly</i>

USS Polly (SP-690) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919. After the conclusion of her Navy career, she operated in the fleet of the United States Bureau of Fisheries as USFS Curlew.

USS Lagoda (SP-3250) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1918 to 1919.

<i>James McCaulley</i> (tug)

James McCaulley was a commercial tug based in Philadelphia that served under charter in the United States Navy from 5 November 1918 to 31 January 1919 as Arabian.

References

  1. 1 2 "Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island NY". shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 Merchant Vessels of the United States. Washington DC: US Bureau of Customs. 1914. p. 176. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  3. ↑ Record. American Bureau of Shipping. 1933. p. 183. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  4. 1 2 Construction & Repair Bureau (Navy) (November 1, 1918). Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 308–313.
  5. ↑ Historical Section, Navy Department (1920). German Submarine Activities on the Atlantic Coast of the United States and Canada (PDF). Washington, D.C. p. 135. Retrieved 5 October 2018.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. 1 2 "SP-247". NavSource Online. NavSource Naval History. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  7. ↑ Merchant Vessels of the United States. Washington DC: US Bureau of Customs. 1920. p. 47. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  8. ↑ Merchant Vessels of the United States. Washington DC: US Coast Guard. 1958. pp. 106, 716. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  9. ↑ Merchant Vessels of the United States. Washington DC: US Coast Guard. 1964. p. 810. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
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.