St. Mary's (motorboat)

For other ships with the same name, see USS St. Mary's.
Conservation Commission motorboat St. Mary's, ca. 1918.
History
United States
NameSt. Mary's
NamesakeSt. Mary's County, Maryland
BuilderRuark, Hooper's Island, Maryland
Completed1912
Acquired17 August 1917 (Navy under contract-lease)
In service17 October 1917 (Navy under contract-lease)
Out of service26 November 1918 (Navy under contract-lease)
NotesMaryland State Fishery Force boat, dual state and Navy service during war
General characteristics
TypePatrol vessel
Length49 ft (15 m)
Beam12 ft (3.7 m)
Draft3 ft (0.91 m) mean
Speed8 mph (7.0 kn; 13 km/h)[note 1]

St. Mary's was a forty-nine foot motorboat, part of the Maryland State Fishery Force, owned by the Conservation Commission of Maryland operating out of Wynne, Maryland[note 2] in the charge of Deputy Commander A. P. Cullinson.[1] The boat was built in 1912 by Ruark of Hooper's Island, Maryland for the Commission.[2]

The Navy approached the Conservation Commission shortly after the nation's entry into World War I proposing the Commission's boats be used to maintain constant local patrols. The state legislature agreed that the boats and men of the state force would become part of the U.S. Naval Reserve providing they patrol the same districts for fisheries enforcement as well as federal interests with the benefit that patrol time would be increased and the expense for all be paid by the federal government.[3] The Maryland State Fishery Force boats began operating under a contract in which they were under a free lease to the United States Navy in August 1917, serving as Squadron Number 8 of the 5th Naval District, patrolling their regular areas enforcing state conservation law and federal laws. They were under the command of a Conservation Commission member, George O. Haddaway, who was also a Lieutenant in the Navy and expenses, wages, supplies and repairs were paid by the federal government.[4][note 3]

St. Mary's was placed in service 17 October 1917 under A. P. Cullinson, the Conservation Commission's usual officer with the Navy rating of Chief Master at Arms, and given the Section Patrol number (SP-1457) while serving both the Conservation Commission and Navy during World War I.[2] St. Mary's was assigned to the Baltimore Section of the 5th Naval District and an area on the Chesapeake Bay and on the Potomac River between Point Lookout, Maryland, and the mouth of the St. Mary's River, the boat's usual Fishery Force area, for the rest of World War I and for two weeks after it ended, concluding her final patrol on 25 November 1918 with the state Conservation Commission taking full responsibility on 26 November 1918.[2]

The State Fishery Force power boat St. Mary's was still in operation when the 1922 Annual Report for the Conservation Commission was published in January 1923.[5]


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  1. ^ Conservation Commission of Maryland (January 7, 1919). "Third Annual report of the Conservation Commission of Maryland — 1918". Retrieved 7 December 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ a b c Naval History And Heritage Command. "St. Mary's III (S. P. 1457)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History And Heritage Command. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  3. ^ Conservation Commission of Maryland (January 7, 1918). "Second Annual report of the Conservation Commission of Maryland — 1917": 9–10, 20. Retrieved 11 December 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ Conservation Commission of Maryland (January 7, 1919). "Third Annual report of the Conservation Commission of Maryland — 1918": 11. Retrieved 7 December 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ Conservation Commission of Maryland (January 10, 1923). "Seventh Annual report of the Conservation Commission of Maryland — 1922". Retrieved 9 December 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)