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Helenita (U.S. Steam Yacht, 1902) photographed prior to World War I. | |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | USS Helenita |
Namesake | A former name retained |
Owner | Frank Jay Gould |
Builder | Gas Engine & Power Co., Morris Heights, New York |
Laid down | date unknown |
Acquired | leased by the Navy, August 1917 |
Commissioned | 17 October 1917 as USS Helenita (SP-210) at Morris Heights, New York |
Decommissioned | 17 June 1919 |
Stricken | circa 1919 |
Fate | Returned to owner, 17 June 1919 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Yacht |
Displacement | 304 tons |
Length | 187 ft (57 m) |
Beam | 21 ft (6.4 m) |
Draft | 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) |
Propulsion | steam engine |
Speed | 16 knots |
Complement | not known |
Armament | Two 3-inch guns |
USS Helenita (SP-210) was a yacht leased from its owner by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was outfitted as an armed patrol craft and initially assigned to North Atlantic Ocean duty, but found to be too lightly built for the ocean. She was then relegated to patrol of Long Island Sound and the Delaware Bay until war's end, when her guns were removed and she was returned to her owner.
The first ship to be so named by the U.S. Navy, Helenita was a 304-ton steam yacht built in 1902 by Gas Engine & Power Co., Morris Heights, New York, acquired by the Navy from Frank J. Gould August 1917, and commissioned 17 October 1917 at Morris Heights, New York.
Originally intended for foreign service, Helenita sailed from Newport, Rhode Island, to Bermuda 4 November, and until 1 January 1918 engaged in patrol, search, and dispatch service out of Bermuda. Found to be too lightly built for sea service, she was sent back to the United States, arriving 10 January 1918 at Charleston, South Carolina. Helenita then entered Philadelphia Navy Yard 17 January for extensive repairs.
Subsequently, Helenita was assigned briefly in May to New London, Connecticut, and New York City, moving to Base 2, Delaware Bay, as a patrol vessel in June. She continued on this duty as a district craft in the Long Island Sound and Delaware Bay areas until sent to Norfolk, Virginia, for repairs 6 August to 26 November 1918.
Returning to New York in May 1919, Helenita decommissioned and was simultaneously returned to her owner 17 June 1919.
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.
An armed yacht was a yacht that was armed with weapons and was typically in the service of a navy. The word "yacht" 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.
USS Halcyon II (SP-582) was a yacht acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was outfitted as an armed patrol craft and stationed in Boston harbor in Massachusetts. She spent much of the war patrolling the Massachusetts waterways for German submarines and, in 1919, was decommissioned after being damaged in a collision.
USS Lyndonia (SP-734), later known as USS Vega (SP-734) was a yacht acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was assigned as an armed patrol craft, but, at times, performed other duties along the U.S. East Coast, such as dispatch boat and training ship for the U.S. Naval Academy. Post-war, she was disposed of through sale to the public.
USS Galatea (SP-714/YP-714) was a steam yacht acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was outfitted as an armed patrol craft and served in the North Atlantic Ocean. At war's end she was used as a receiving ship in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for submariners before being sold in 1921.
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 Utowana (SP-951) – also known as USS Victorine (SP-951) -- was a fishing trawler acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I. The Navy had planned to use her as a minesweeper based out of Kittery, Maine; however, Utowana spent most of her service time operating as an armed patrol craft, responsible for escorting Allied ships across the dangerous North Atlantic Ocean. She served through the war and the armistice before returning to the United States for decommissioning.
USS Zara (SP-133) was a steam yacht that was built in Scotland in 1890, passed through a number of British, Canadian and US owners, and ended up as a passenger steamship in Greece after the First World War. She was renamed several times, becoming Solgar, Electra and finally Zoodohos Pigi. In the latter part of the war she spent a year as an armed yacht in the United States Navy.
USS Riette (SP-107) was an armed motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919.
The third USS Mohican (SP-117), later USS SP-117, was an armed yacht that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919.
The second USS Sovereign (SP-170) was an armed yacht that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1918 to 1919.
The first USS Whirlwind (SP-221) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission in 1917 and again in 1918.
USS Navajo III (SP-298), later USS SP-298, was an armed motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919.
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USS Gaivota (SP-436) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.
USS Vivace (SP-583) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.
USS Owaissa (SP-659) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.
USS Lexington II (SP-705), later USS SP-705, was an American patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.
USS Linta (SP-721) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.
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