 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | USS Josephine |
| Namesake: | Previous name retained |
| Builder: | Peter Grutti Shipyards, New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Completed: | 1905 |
| Acquired: | 27 October 1917 |
| Commissioned: | 5 November 1917 |
| Decommissioned: | 6 December 1918 |
| Fate: | Returned to owners |
| Notes: | Operated as civilian yacht Josephine 1905-1917 and from December 1918 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Patrol vessel |
| Tonnage: | 32 tons |
| Length: | 82 ft (25 m) |
| Beam: | 12 ft 10 in (3.91 m) |
| Draft: | 4 ft 6 in (1.37 m) |
| Propulsion: | Diesel engine |
| Speed: | 12 knots |
| Armament: |
|
The second USS Josephine (SP-1243) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most capable navy in the world and it has been estimated that in terms of tonnage of its active battle fleet alone, it is larger than the next 13 navies combined, which includes 11 U.S. allies or partner nations. with the highest combined battle fleet tonnage and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, and two new carriers under construction. With 319,421 personnel on active duty and 99,616 in the Ready Reserve, the Navy is the third largest of the service branches. It has 282 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of March 2018, making it the second-largest air force in the world, after the United States Air Force.
Josephine was built as a civilian motor yacht of the same name in 1905 by the Peter Grutti Shipyards at New Orleans, Louisiana. The U.S. Navy acquired her at New Orleans from her owners, Lee H. Tate et al. of St. Louis, Missouri, on 27 October 1917 for World War I service as a patrol vessel. She was commissioned as USS Josephine (SP-1243) on 5 November 1917 with Ensign J. S. Waterman, Jr., USNRF, in command.
In general, a civilian is "a person who is not a member of the military or of a police or firefighting force". The definition distinguishes from persons whose duties involves risking their lives to protect the public at large from hazardous situations such as terrorism, riots, conflagrations, or wars. It also does not include "criminals" in the category, as authorities and the media wants to distinguish between those who are law-abiding and those who are not.
A yacht is a watercraft used for pleasure or sports. The term originates from the Dutch word jacht, and was originally referencing light fast sailing vessels that the Dutch Republic navy used to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries. The yacht was popularized by Charles II of England as a pleasure or recreation vessel following his restoration in 1660.
Louisiana is a state in the Deep South region of the South Central United States. It is the 31st most extensive and the 25th most populous of the 50 United States. Louisiana is bordered by the state of Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. A large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River. Louisiana is the only U.S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are equivalent to counties. The state's capital is Baton Rouge, and its largest city is New Orleans.
Attached to the 8th Naval District and based at Burrwood, Louisiana, Josephine patrolled the Southwest Pass, the lower Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico on the section patrol for the remainder of World War I.
Burrwood was a community located near the far south end of the delta of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States. At one time the town had an estimated population of 1,000, but today it is uninhabited, with most of its territory fully or partially submerged by coastal erosion.
Southwest Pass is one of the channels at the mouth of the Mississippi River. It empties into the Gulf of Mexico at the southwesternmost tip of the Mississippi River Delta. It lies in Plaquemines Parish in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It has been the main shipping channel in the Mississippi River Delta since 1853.
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system on the North American continent, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. Its source is Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota and it flows generally south for 2,320 miles (3,730 km) to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is 1,151,000 sq mi (2,980,000 km2), of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the fourth-longest and fifteenth-largest river by discharge in the world. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Josephine was decommissioned on 6 December 1918 and was returned to Tate and his co-owners.
Josephine should not be confused with two other patrol vessels, USS Josephine (SP-913) and USS Josephine (SP-3295), which also were in commission in the U.S. Navy during World War I.
The first USS Josephine (SP-913), later USS SP-913, was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.
The third USS Josephine (SP-3295) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1918 to 1919.
