USS Herreshoff No. 308 (SP-2232)

For ships with a similar name, see USS Herreshoff.
Career (United States)
Name: USS Herreshoff No. 308
Namesake: Previous name retained
Builder: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Bristol, Rhode Island
Completed: 1917
Acquired: 21 February 1918
Commissioned: 23 February 1918
Struck: 12 September 1923
Fate: Sold 27 May 1924
Notes: Operated as private motorboat Herreshoff No. 308 1917-1918; loaned to U.S. Department of War 1920-1923; in private use from May 1924
General characteristics
Type:Patrol vessel
Tonnage:60 gross tons[1]
Displacement:60 tons[2]
Length:112 ft 5 in (34.26 m)
Beam:15 ft 2 in (4.62 m)
Draft:4 ft (1.2 m)
Propulsion:Steam engine
Speed:24 knots
Armament:1 x 6-pounder gun

USS Herreshoff No. 308 (SP-2232), also written Herreshoff #308, was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1918 to 1923.

Construction, acquisition, and commissioning

At the suggestion of Assistant Secretary of the Navy (and future President of the United States) Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), R. E. Tod of New York City, seeking a way to contribute to the U.S. war effort during World War I, contracted with the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company at Bristol, Rhode Island, for one of a small group of 60-ton steel-hulled steam-powered boats built to a naval patrol boat design for private owners with the intention that they would be made available to the U.S. Navy in time of war. Tod‍ '​s boat, with the builder‍ '​s name Herreshoff No. 308, was completed in 1917.

On 21 February 1918, the U.S. Navy acquired Herreshoff No. 308 from Tod for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned at Newport, Rhode Island, as USS Herreshoff No. 308 (SP-2232) on 23 February 1918.

Operational history

After spending a short time at New London, Connecticut, fitting out with listening gear, Herreshoff No. 308 departed New London on 5 May 1918 in company with the patrol boats USS Herreshoff No. 306 (SP-1841) and USS Herreshoff No. 321 (SP-2235) bound for the Panama Canal Zone, stopping at Charleston, South Carolina; Key West, Florida; and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, en route. She arrived at Cristóbal in the Canal Zone on 1 June 1918. For the next two years she served on patrol duty in the Canal Zone at Cristóbal and Balboa.

Herreshoff No. 308 was loaned to the United States Department of War on 14 October 1920 for use by the Governor of the Panama Canal Zone. The Canal Zone government used her as a patrol craft.

Disposal

Returned to the Navy in September 1923, Herreshoff No. 308 was stricken from the Navy List on 12 September 1923. She was sold to J. A. Kenney of Brooklyn, New York, on 27 May 1924.

Notes

  1. ↑ SP-2232: Herreshoff 308 at Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships -- Listed by Hull Number: "SP" #s and "ID" #s -- World War I Era Patrol Vessels and other Acquired Ships and Craft numbered from ID # 2200 through ID # 2299
  2. ↑ Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h5/herreshoff_308.htm and NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Herreshoff No. 308 (SP 2232). It is possible that this figure is mistaken and actually should refer to the 60 gross tons given by SP-2232: Herreshoff 308 at Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships -- Listed by Hull Number: "SP" #s and "ID" #s -- World War I Era Patrol Vessels and other Acquired Ships and Craft numbered from ID # 2200 through ID # 2299

References