USS Olympic

History
United States
NameOlympic
OwnerFrank Wright (1917)
BuilderE. W. Heath, SeattleWashington
Completed1913
FateAcquired by U.S. Navy 15 May 1917
NotesCivilian yacht
History
United States
NameUSS Olympic
NamesakePrevious name retained
OperatorUnited States Navy
Acquired15 May 1917
Commissioned9 June 1917
FateTransferred to U.S. Public Health Service 13 September 1919
United States
NameUSPHS Bailhache
NamesakePreston H. Bailhache (1835–1919), U.S. Marine Hospital Service physician
OperatorU.S. Public Health Service
Acquired13 September 1919
FateSold 10 February 1934
United States
NameMoby Dick
NamesakeA fictional white whale in the 1851 Herman Melville novel Moby-Dick
Owner
  • H. W. McCurdy (1934)
  • S. Catherine McCurdy (1941)
Acquired10 February 1934
FateAcquired by U.S. Army December 1941
United States
NameUSAS Q-108
OperatorUnited States Army
AcquiredDecember 1941
Out of service1945
FateReturned to owner 1946
United States
NameMoby Dick
NamesakeA fictional white whale in the 1851 Herman Melville novel Moby-Dick
Owner
  • S. Catherine McCurdy (1946)
  • Michael R. Uttecht (1949)
  • Subsequently various owners
Acquired1946
Fate
  • Sank 24 May 1989
  • Refloated, stored, and scrapped
General characteristics
(as U.S. Navy patrol vessel)
TypePatrol vessel
Tonnage40 gross tons
Displacement28.4 tons
Length64 ft (20 m)
Beam13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Draft4 ft 3 in (1.30 m) mean
PropulsionOne 55 hp (41 kW) 3-cylinder Standard gasoline engine, one shaft
Speed9.4 knots
Complement18
Armament
General characteristics
(as USPHS vessel, private yacht, cargo vessel, and passenger vessel)
Tonnage
Length
  • 64.9 ft (19.8 m) (1920)
  • 61.7 ft (18.8 m) (1948)
Beam
  • 13 ft (4 m) (1920)
  • 13.8 ft (4.2 m) (1948)
Draft
  • 5.6 ft (1.7 m) (1920)
  • 6.4 ft (2 m) (1920)
Crew
  • 1 (1948)
  • 8 (1950)

USS Olympic (SP-260) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919. After her U.S. Navy career ended, she served in the United States Public Health Service as the boarding vessel USPHS Bailhache from 1919 to 1934. She then operated as the yacht, cargo vessel, and passenger vessel Moby Dick until 1989, except for a period of World War II United States Army service as USAS Q-108 from 1941 to 1946.

The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships erroneously claims that the vessel served in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1919 to 1934 as a survey vessel named USC&GS Dailhache.