USS Holly (1881)

Career (USA)
Name:	USS Holly
Namesake:	Any of a genus of trees and shrubs having thick, glossy, spiny margined leaves and bright red berries
Owner:	U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Lighthouse Service
Laid down:	in Baltimore, Maryland, date unknown
Completed:	1881
Acquired:	by the Navy, 15 April 1917
In service:	15 April 1917
Out of service:	1919 (est.)
Struck:	not known
Homeport:	Norfolk, Virginia
Fate:	returned to the Lighthouse Service by Executive order dated 1 July 1919
General characteristics
Type:	lighthouse tender
Displacement:	367 tons
Length:	176'
Beam:	24'
Draft:	8' 6"
Propulsion:	steam engine
Speed:	9 knots
Complement:	23 officers and enlisted
Armament:	not known

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

USS Holly (1881) was a lighthouse tender borrowed by the U.S. Navy from the U.S. Commerce Department during World War I and armed as a patrol craft. Holly was used to patrol the waters near Norfolk, Virginia. Post-war she was returned to the Commerce Department.

Built in Baltimore, Maryland

The first ship to be so named by the Navy, Holly, a wood and steel lighthouse tender, was built in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1881, and was owned by the Department of Commerce, Lighthouse Service, until being taken over by the Navy 15 April 1917.

World War I service

She served in the 5th Naval District, operating from Norfolk, Virginia, on general and patrol duty during the balance of World War I.

Post-war decommissioning

The steamer was returned to the Lighthouse Service by Executive order dated 1 July 1919.

See also

• United States Navy
• United States Lighthouse Service
• World War I

References

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