USS Absegami (SP-371) was a motorboat acquired on a free lease by the United States Navy during World War I. She was outfitted as an armed patrol craft and assigned to patrol the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Cape May, New Jersey on the Delaware Bay. When the Navy found her excess to their needs, she was returned to her former owner.

Absegami, photographed c. 1916
History
United States
NameAbsegami
NamesakeAbsegami were part of the Lenape tribe
OwnerAllen K. White, Atlantic City, New Jersey
BuilderNew York Yacht, Launch & Engine Company, New York City
Launched1916
Fateturned over to the USN on free lease, 2 May 1917
USS Absegami (SP-371), photographed c. 1917
History
United States
NameAbsegami
Acquired2 May 1917
Commissioned30 April 1917
Decommissioned2 December 1918
Fatereturned to owner, 6 December 1918
General characteristics [1]
TypeMotorboat
Tonnage51 GRT
Length
  • 75 ft (23 m) (overall)
  • 70 ft 3 in (21.41 m) (waterline)
Beam16 ft (4.9 m)
Draft3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) (mean)
Installed power
Propulsion2 × propellers
Speed13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Range330 nmi (610 km; 380 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement1 officer 10 enlisted
Armament

Construction and career

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Built in New York

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Absegami was a motor boat built in 1916 at New York City by the New York Yacht, Launch & Engine Co.; acquired by the Navy on free lease from her owner, Allen K. White, Atlantic City, New Jersey, on 2 May 1917; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 30 April 1917, Ensign W. G. Morse .[2]

World War I service

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Following her commissioning, Absegami was assigned to section patrol duty in the 4th Naval District. Throughout World War I, the boat patrolled the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean waters off Cape May, New Jersey.[2] Absegami was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 2 December 1918 and returned to her owner four days later.[2]

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Notes

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  1. ^ Ships Data 1921, pp. 326–331.
  2. ^ a b c DANFS 2016.

References

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Books
  • Ships' Data, U. S. Naval Vessels. US Naval Department. 1 July 1921. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
Online sources
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