USS Despatch (SP-68)

USS Despatch (PY-8), possibly in 1920 or 1921.
History
United States
Name	USS Vixen (10 August 1917 – 21 August 1917) USS Despatch (from 21 August 1917)
Namesake	Vixen was her previous name retained Despatch, as a verb, is to send off or away, to dispose of speedily, to execute quickly; as a noun, is a message sent with speed.
Builder	Gas Engine and Power Company and Charles L. Seabury Company, Morris Heights, New York
Completed	1913
Acquired	6 August 1917
Commissioned	10 August 1917
Recommissioned	12 April 1920
Decommissioned	15 July 1919 (first time) 9 December 1921 (second and final time)
Renamed	USS Despatch 21 August 1917 (originally was USS Vixen)
Reclassified	Patrol yacht, PY-8, 17 July 1920
Fate	Transferred to State of Florida 10 May 1928
Notes	In use as private yacht Vixen 1913–1917 In use by the State of Florida from 1928
General characteristics
Type	Tender
Tonnage	287 GRT, 195 NRT
Displacement	237 tons
Length	164.0 ft (50.0 m)
Beam	22.4 ft (6.8 m)
Draft	6 ft (1.8 m)
Depth	11.7 ft (3.6 m)
Installed power	52 NHP
Propulsion	2 × triple-expansion engines 2 × screws
Sail plan	schooner
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h)
Complement	49
Armament	2 × 3-pounder guns

USS Despatch (SP-68), later PY-8, originally USS Vixen (SP-68), was a steam yacht that served in the United States Navy as a tender from 1917 to 1919 and from 1920 to 1921.