USS Felicia (SP-642)

From SpottingWorld, the Hub for the SpottingWorld network...
USS Felicia World War I.jpg
Felicia underway prior to World War I.
Career (USA) Union Navy Jack 100x35px
Name: USS Felicia
Namesake: Former name retained
Owner: Jesse H. Metcalf of Providence, Rhode Island
Builder: J. N. Robbins Company, of Brooklyn, New York
Laid down: date unknown
Launched: 1898
Christened: as Felicia
Completed: 1898
Acquired: June 21, 1917
Commissioned: June 29, 1917 as USS Felicia (SP-642)
Decommissioned: August 25, 1919 at Brooklyn, New York
Struck: September 1919
Homeport: Newport, Rhode Island
Fate: sold March 25, 1920
General characteristics
Type: Yacht
Tonnage: 213 gross tons
Length: 179'
Beam: 20' 1"
Draft: 7' 6"
Propulsion: Steam engine
Speed: 14 knots
Complement: 49 officers and enlisted
Armament: Three 3-pounder guns

USS Felicia (SP-642) was a yacht acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was outfitted and armed by the Navy as a patrol craft, and was assigned to patrol the New England waters. Her task of protecting ships from German submarines was interrupted by her collision with a submarine. Post-war she was reconfigured to her civilian condition, and was sold in 1919.

Built as a yacht in Brooklyn

The first ship to be so named by the Navy, Felicia (No. 642) was built in 1898 by J. N. Robins Company, Brooklyn, New York; purchased by the Navy June 2, 1917; and commissioned June 29, 1917, Lieutenant H. Langworthy, USNRF, in command. (The other USS Felicia, PYc-35, was built in 1931, and served in WWII.)

World War I service

Based out of Newport, Rhode Island, Felicia patrolled the New England coast, on duty with the 2d Naval District, until August 39, 1918, when she collided with a submarine in heavy fog off Montauk Point.

Decommissioning and sale

She was in repair or laid up at various yards until decommissioned at Brooklyn, New York, August 25, 1919. Felicia was stricken from the list of Naval vessels in September 1919 and sold March 25, 1920.

See also

References