&sq=&lang=&file=File:USS_Harvard_SP-209_wide_view.jpg) USS Harvard (SP-209)
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Harvard |
| Namesake | Harvard, a college founded at Cambridge, Massachusetts. |
| Owner | G. F. Baker, New York City |
| Builder | Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine |
| Laid down | date unknown |
| Launched | 1904 |
| Christened | as the yacht Eleanor; later renamed the yacht Wacouta |
| Completed | 1904 |
| Acquired | Leased by the Navy on 23 April 1917 |
| Commissioned | 10 May 1917 at New York City as USS Harvard |
| Decommissioned | 26 July 1919 at New York City |
| Stricken | 26 July 1919 |
| Homeport | Brest, France |
| Fate | Returned to owner, 26 July 1919 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Yacht |
| Displacement | 804 tons |
| Length | 243' |
| Beam | 32' |
| Draft | 12' 6" |
| Propulsion | Steam engine |
| Sail plan | Three masts |
| Speed | 12 knots |
| Complement | not known |
| Armament | Four 3-pounder guns |
| Armor | Steel hulled |
USS Harvard (SP-209) was a yacht leased by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was outfitted as a patrol craft and assigned to patrol duty in the North Atlantic Ocean, protecting civilian ships from German submarines. In addition, she saved the lives of a number of survivors from ships that had been torpedoed. Post-war she was decommissioned and returned to her owner in her original civilian shipboard configuration.