USS Niagara (SP-263)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Niagara.

USS Niagara (SP-263)
Career
Name:	USS Niagara
Builder:	E. A. Fonda, Miami, Florida
Launched:	1915
Acquired:	5 July 1917
Fate:	Transferred to the United States Lighthouse Service, 29 May 1919
Career	United States Lighthouse Service
Name:	USLHT Poinsettia
Acquired:	29 May 1919
Decommissioned:	21 April 1922
Fate:	Sold, 1922 Caught fire and sank, 27 December 1928
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol boat / Lighthouse tender
Displacement:	33 long tons (34 t)
Length:	50 ft (15 m)
Beam:	16 ft (4.9 m)
Draft:	2 ft 9 in (0.84 m)
Propulsion:	50 hp (37 kW) gasoline engine, one shaft
Speed:	10.4 knots (19.3 km/h; 12.0 mph)
Complement:	5
Armament:	• 1 × 1-pounder gun • 1 × machine gun

USS Niagara (SP-263) was a vessel of the United States Navy during World War I.

Niagara, a yacht built in 1915 by E. A. Fonda of Miami, Florida, was purchased by the United States Navy on 5 July 1917 from General H. M. Creel, of Miami, and was designated USS Niagara (SP-263). The navy redesignated the boat as SP-263 on 11 April 1918, dropping the name Niagara.

After the war, on 29 May 1919, she was transferred to the United States Lighthouse Service, converted into a lighthouse tender and rechristened USLHT Poinsettia. She was assigned to the 7th Lighthouse District in Key West, Florida.

Poinsettia was decommissioned on 21 April 1922 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and was sold. She caught fire and sank on 27 December 1928.

References

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Niagara at NavSource Naval History