Williams-Whittlesey Co.

Last updated
USS Althea (SP-218).jpg
Althea, likely before 1917
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Althea
OwnerJames H. Moore / U.S. Navy / G. F. Colton
BuilderWilliams-Whittlesey Co., New York
Completed1907
Acquired15 June 1917
Commissioned12 May 1917
Decommissioned2 August 1919
Stricken2 August 1919
Homeport Detroit, Michigan
FateSank, 18 March 1920; sold for salvage, 12 May 1920; abandoned, 1926
General characteristics
Displacement25 long tons (25 t)
Length60 ft (18 m)
Beam12 ft (3.7 m)
Draft4 ft (1.2 m)
Speed9.5 mph
Complement9
Crew3
Armament1 × 3-pounder, 2 × machine guns

Williams-Whittlesey Motor Boat and Shipbuilding Co., often referred to as Williams-Whittlesey Co. and known until 1904 as the Standard Boat Co., [1] was an American boatbuilding company [2] in Queens, New York, that operated at least from 1891 [3] to 1910. [4] Headquartered in Long Island City [5] with a boatyard in the adjacent Astoria neighborhood, the company produced tugboats, river vessels, scows, and yachts. [3] Among its products were two private motorboats that were later commissioned by the United States Navy for service during World War I: Osprey II, which served as USS Osprey II (SP-928) from 1917 to 1918; and Althea, which served as USS Althea (SP-218) from 1917 to 1919.

In 1904, the Standard Boat Co.'s owners changed the name to Williams-Whittlesey Motor Boat and Shipbuilding Co. because they "felt that their firm was very often confused with the Standard Motor Construction Co. of Jersey City, New Jersey". [1]

Among its naval architects was H. Newton Whittelsey, [6] whose yacht designs were noted for introducing "the modern type of large raised deck cruiser," according to Motor Boating magazine. [7] Another employee was Daniel I. Whittlesey, [8] a 1901 graduate of Yale University's Sheffield Scientific School. By 1916, Whittelsey and Whittlesey had formed their own shipbuilding company headquartered at 11 Broadway in Manhattan. [9]

References

  1. 1 2 Motoring and Boating. 1904.
  2. ↑ Blue Book of American Shipping ...: Marine and Naval Directory of the United States ... Marine Review Publishing Company. 1907.
  3. 1 2 Hendricks' Commercial Register of the United States. S. E. Hendricks Company. 1891.
  4. ↑ Blue Book of American Shipping: Marine and Naval Directory of the United States; Statistics of Shipping and Shipbuilding in America. Marine Review Publishing Company. 1910.
  5. ↑ Yale Sheffield Monthly. 1906.
  6. ↑ H. Newton Whittelsey spelled his last name -el-; his exact relationship to the owners is unknown.
  7. ↑ "H. Newton Whittlesey". www.lesliefield.com. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  8. ↑ Daniel I. Whittlesey spelled his last name -le-; his exact relationship to the owners is unknown.
  9. ↑ Engineers (U.S.), Society of Naval Architects and Marine (1916). Year Book.
  10. ↑ "Motor Boating archives". onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-13.

40°42′18″N74°00′50″W / 40.705°N 74.014°W / 40.705; -74.014

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.