USS Nemes (SP-424)

Nemes as a private motorboat, sometime between 1909 and 1917.
History
United States
Name:	USS Nemes
Namesake:	Previous name retained
Builder:	Van Deise, Camden, New Jersey
Completed:	1909
Acquired:	10 July 1917
Commissioned:	July 1917
Fate:	Exploded and sank 21 August 1917
Notes:	Operated as private motorboat Nemes 1909-1917
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol vessel
Tonnage:	18 gross register tons
Length:	50 ft 2 in (15.29 m)
Beam:	10 ft 5 in (3.18 m)
Draft:	2 ft 6 in (0.76 m)
Speed:	12 knots
Armament:	1 × 1-pounder gun 1 × machine gun

USS Nemes (SP-424) was a United States Navy patrol vessel commissioned in July 1917 and sunk in August 1917.

Nemes as a private motorboat sometime between 1909 and 1917.

Nemes was built as a private motorboat of the same name in 1909 by Van Deise at Camden, New Jersey. On 10 July 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, J. C. Noblit of Germantown, Pennsylvania, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned soon afterwards as USS Nemes (SP-424) with Boatswain W. H. Noblit in command.

Assigned to the 7th Naval District headquartered at Key West, Florida, Nemes moved south to Key West to begin patrol duties there. In August 1917, scheduled to patrol around Key West, she pulled into nearby Cotteral Bay for cleaning. While she was there, an explosion rocked her on 21 August 1917, causing her to burn and sink. No lives were lost, but six men were burned.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Nemes (Motor Boat, 1909). Served as USS Nemes (SP-424) in 1917
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Nemes (SP 424)