USS Raboco

History
United States
Name	USS Raboco
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Racine Boat Company, Racine, Wisconsin
Completed	1913
Acquired	19 May 1917
Commissioned	5 July or 7 July 1917 [1]
Fate	Returned to owner 7 January 1919
Notes	Operated as civilian motorboat Raboco 1913 to 1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Tonnage	39 tons
Length	65 ft (20 m)
Beam	14 ft (4.3 m)
Draft	3 ft 6 in (1.07 m)
Speed	9 knots
Complement	9

USS Raboco (SP-310) was an armed motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919.

Raboco was built as a civilian motorboat of the same name in 1913 by the Racine Boat Company at Racine, Wisconsin. The U.S. Navy acquired Raboco on a free lease from her owner, Harry C. Good of Moline, Illinois, on 19 May 1917 for World War I service as a patrol vessel. Sources agree that she was commissioned as USS Raboco (SP-310) on 5 July 1917; ^[2] however, one source also states that she was delivered to the Navy on 7 July 1917, ^[3] raising the possibility that 7 July might have been her true commissioning date.

For the rest of World War I, Raboco served on the Great Lakes with the coastal defense forces of the 9th, 10th, and 11th Naval Districts—at the time a single administrative entity made up of the 9th Naval District, 10th Naval District, and 11th Naval District—operating principally between Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Naval Training Station Great Lakes at North Chicago, Illinois.

Raboco was decommissioned soon after the end of the war and returned to her owner on 7 January 1919.

Notes

1. According to the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/r1/raboco.htm), Raboco was commissioned in the U.S. Navy on 5 July 1917 but not delivered to the U.S. Navy until 7 July, requiring a highly unusual and unlikely commissioning two days prior to delivery; NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170310.htm) states that she was commissioned on 5 July 1917 without mentioning 7 July 1917 or any delivery date. It remains an open question as to whether the boat was delivered on 5 July and commissioned on 7 July, or commissioned on 5 July and delivered on a previous, unreported date.
2. Per both the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/r1/raboco.htm), and NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170310.htm).
3. According to the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/r1/raboco.htm), Raboco was commissioned in the U.S. Navy on 5 July 1917 but not delivered to the U.S. Navy until 7 July, requiring a highly unusual and unlikely commissioning two days prior to delivery; NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170310.htm) states that she was commissioned on 5 July 1917 without mentioning 7 July 1917 or any delivery date.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Raboco (SP 310)