| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | USS Wasp |
| Namesake: | wasp |
| Builder: | Superior Shipbuilding Company |
| Completed: | 1910 |
| Acquired: | 29 June 1917 |
| Fate: | Returned to owner 3 November 1917 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Steel-hulled motorboat |
| Length: | 40 ft 0 in (12.19 m) |
| Beam: | 9 ft 0 in (2.74 m) |
| Draft: | 2 ft 9 in (0.84 m) mean |
| Speed: | 12 knots |
| Complement: | 5 men |
| Armament: | 1 × 1-pounder gun |
Although not officially counted among the ten U.S. Navy ships named Wasp because she was never entered into the Naval Vessel Register , a steel-hulled motorboat named USS Wasp (SP-1159) performed patrol duties under lease to the U.S. Navy in 1917.
The Naval Vessel Register (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and disposal. It also includes ships that have been removed from the register, but not disposed of by sale, transfer to another government, or other means. Ships and service craft disposed of prior to 1987 are currently not included, but are gradually being added along with other updates.
Wasp was built in 1910 at the Superior Shipbuilding Company and was owned by W. S. Pattison of Duluth, Minnesota, in 1917, when the U.S. Navy inspected the ship, in the 9th Naval District, for possible service. Wasp was acquired by the Navy on a free-lease basis on 29 June 1917 and was assigned the classification SP-1159 but was never listed in the Naval Vessel Register. She was used as a patrol craft by the 9th Naval District—at the time a part of a single administrative entity called the "9th, 10th, and 11th Naval Districts"—and operated on the Great Lakes until returned to her owner on 3 November 1917.
The Superior Shipbuilding Company was originally called the American Steel Barge Company, and based in Duluth, Minnesota. It was founded by Scottish Captain Alexander McDougall who founded it so he could produce his new whaleback ship, this was Whaleback Barge 101. In 1900 McDougall sold his firm to the American Ship Building Company which transferred the company to Superior, Wisconsin and renamed it Superior Shipbuilding Company. After World War One the yard stopped manufacturing ships and instead turned to repair work. They continued repairing ships until 1945 when American Ship Building Company decided to sell it. It was initially known as the Knudsen Brothers Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company. In 1955 it was renamed Fraser Shipyards and still exists today.
Duluth is a major port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Saint Louis County. Duluth has a population of 86,293 and is the 4th largest city in Minnesota. It is the 2nd largest city on Lake Superior. The largest is Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It has the largest metropolitan area on the lake, with a population of 279,771 in 2010, the second-largest in the state.
Minnesota is a state in the Upper Midwest and northern regions of the United States. Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858, created from the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory. The state has a large number of lakes, and is known by the slogan the "Land of 10,000 Lakes". Its official motto is L'Étoile du Nord.
