History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | USS Vedette (SP-163) |
Builder |
|
Launched | 23 December 1899 |
Completed | 1899 |
Acquired | 4 May 1917 |
Commissioned | 28 May 1917 |
Stricken | 4 February 1919 |
Fate | Returned to owner 4 February 1919 |
General characteristics | |
Type | yacht |
Displacement | 441 tons |
Length | 199' 6" |
Beam | 26' 0" |
Draft | 12' 0" |
Propulsion | Steam engine, single-screw |
Complement | 61 |
Armament |
|
Armour | steel-hulled |
The first USS Vedette (SP-163) was a commercial yacht built in 1899. At the outbreak of World War I, the yacht was leased by the United States Navy, and was used as a section patrol craft in the North Atlantic Ocean. She served honorably during the war, rescuing survivors at sea, and attacking a German U-boat. At war’s end, she was converted to her original configuration and returned to her owner, the railroad executive, financier, and philanthropist Frederick W. Vanderbilt (1856-1938) of New York City.