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.
Kanawha was a steam yacht that was built in 1899. She was built for a member of the New York Yacht Club (NYYC), to replace a previous yacht of the same name. Henry Huttleston Rogers of Standard Oil bought her in 1901, and owned her until his death in 1909. The United States Navy used her as a patrol vessel in the First World War from 1917 to 1919. Marcus Garvey's Black Star Line acquired her in 1919 and renamed her Antonio Maceo.
USS Wabash (ID-1824) was a cargo steamship. She was launched in Germany in 1900 for DDG „Hansa“ as Wartburg. In 1905 Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) bought her and renamed her Tübingen. In 1917 the United States seized her and renamed her Seneca. In 1918 she was commissioned into the United States Navy as USS Wabash. She was scrapped in Italy in 1924.
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 Sultana (SP-134) was a steam yacht acquired under a free lease by the United States Navy in World War I. She was outfitted as a patrol boat and was assigned to escort duty in the North Atlantic Ocean. She rescued survivors adrift in the water, and protected cargo ships from U-boat attack, and was returned to her owner at the close of the war.
USS Noma (SP-131) was the private steam yacht Noma, built in 1902 on Staten Island and loaned to the U.S. Navy during World War I as a patrol craft assigned to protect shipping from German submarines. At war’s end she served the American Relief Commission in Constantinople and the Black Sea before being returned to her owner after decommissioning. In the 1930s she was converted to a salvage tug, owned in Italy as Salvatore Primo, and torpedoed during World War II.
USS Corona (SP-813) was a steel-hulled steam yacht that was launched in Scotland in 1905 as Corona. In 1917 the United States Navy had her converted into an armed yacht. She was based in France until 1918, and then in reserve in Connecticut. In 1921 she was sold back into civilian use. In 1928 she was re-registered in Peru, where she became a merchant ship. She sank off the Peruvian coast in 1941.
USS Nokomis (SP-609) was a yacht purchased by the U.S. Navy during World War I. The yacht was purchased from Horace E. Dodge of Detroit, Michigan, after he had the yacht luxuriously fitted out but before he could make use of his second Nokomis — the first having already gone into service.
Idealia was America's first diesel powered yacht built and owned by the Electric Launch Company (ELCO). The yacht was built in 1911, launched in 1912 and demonstrated the potential for use of diesel engines in yachts for several years thereafter. She yacht performed a public trial on the Hudson River on 22 October 1913 under the supervision of ELCO's manager Henry R. Sutphen with a gathering of naval architects and engineers as observers. Idealia was sold to individual owners after its period of demonstrating the diesel engine's pleasure craft utility.
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.
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 Rondo (ID-2488) was a Dutch cargo steamship that was built for Stoomvaart Mattschappij Nederland in 1914. She served in the United States Navy from March 1918 until June 1919. She was scrapped in 1933.
Aphrodite was a steam yacht that was launched in 1898. When completed in 1899 she was the largest steam yacht yet built in the US. In 1917 she was commissioned into the United States Navy as the patrol vessel USS Aphrodite (SP-135). She was based in France from 1917 to 1918; in England from 1918 to 1919; and then returned to her private owner.
USS Lady Anne (SP-154) was an armed motor launch that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919.
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.
The fourth USS Fulton (SP-247), later USS SP-247, was a commercial tug built in 1909. 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.
USS Kajeruna (SP-389) was a patrol vessel that served in the United States Navy from 1917 to 1919. The vessel had been built in 1902 as Hauoli for mining magnate Francis Marion "Borax" Smith but was replaced in 1903 by a second, larger vessel he named Hauoli. The first yacht was then named Seminole and for a time was returned to the builder, John N. Robins, and advertised for sale by the designer's firm. In 1911 Clinton W. Kinsella of New York purchased the yacht, apparently already renamed Kajeruna. After naval service the yacht was returned to the owner. On 31 March 1920 the ship was sold to British interests and renamed Tomas W. Beattie.
TS Vanadis was a steel-hulled steam yacht that was launched in Scotland in 1908. When new, she was said to be one of the largest steam yachts in the World. She was renamed Poryv in 1917, Finlandia in 1919, and Ianara in 1925. She was one of very few steam yachts propelled by direct-drive steam turbines instead of reciprocating engines. In 1910 her high-pressure turbine was replaced with a triple-expansion engine, in order to reduce her excessive coal consumption. She was owned in the United States until 1917, when she became a ship of the Imperial Russian Navy. After the First World War, she passed through a succession of Finnish, French, and United Kingdom owners. She was scrapped in Italy in 1936.
USS Helianthus (SP-585) was a patrol vessel in commission in the United States Navy from 1917 to 1919, seeing service in World War I. After her U.S. Navy service, she was in commission in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey as the survey launch USC&GS Helianthus from 1919 to 1939. She was named after the Helianthus, the genus to which the sunflower belongs.
USFC Phalarope was an American fish culture and fisheries science research vessel that operated along the coast of New England. She was part of the fleet of the United States Commission on Fish and Fisheries, generally referred to as the United States Fish Commission, from 1900 to 1903 and in the fleet of its successor, the United States Bureau of Fisheries, as USFS Phalarope from 1903 until 1917 and again from 1919 until fiscal year 1933. She was in commission in the United States Navy as the patrol vessel USS Phalarope from 1917 to 1919, seeing service during World War I. Before her United States Government service, she was the steam yacht Adelita.
United States