USS Sabalo (SP-225)
| 300px Sabalo in use as a civilian yacht in 1916, prior to her U.S. Navy service. | |
| Career (United States) | 100x35px |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Sabalo |
| Namesake: | The sabalo, another name for the tarpon, a large, silvery game fish of the herring group, found in the warmer parts of the western Atlantic Ocean (Previous name retained) |
| Builder: | George Lawley and Sons, Neponset, Massachusetts |
| Completed: | 1916 |
| Acquired: | May 1917 |
| Commissioned: | 20 July 1917 |
| Decommissioned: | 3 March 1919 |
| Fate: | Returned to owner 3 March 1919 |
| Notes: | Operated as civilian yacht Sabalo 1916-1917 and 1919-1931 and as Breezin' Thru 1931-1940 and 1945-1950; in Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Cougar (Z15) 1940-1945; sank in hurricane 1950 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Patrol vessel |
| Tonnage: | 204 gross tons |
| Length: | 141 ft (43 m) |
| Beam: | 19 ft 6 in (5.94 m) |
| Draft: | 7 ft (2.1 m) mean |
| Speed: | 14 knots |
| Complement: | 12 |
| Armament: | 2 x 3-pounder guns |
The first USS Sabalo (SP-225) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.
Contents
Construction, acquisition, and commissioning
Sabalo was built as a civilian motor yacht of the same name in 1916 by George Lawley and Sons at Neponset, Massachusetts. The U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, Mr. W. Earl Dodge of New York City, in May 1917 for World War I service as a patrol vessel. She was commissioned on 20 July 1917 as USS Sabalo (SP-225).
Assigned to the 3rd Naval District, Sabalo operated in the New York Harbor area on section patrol duty for the remainder of World War I.
Sabalo was decommissioned on 3 March 1919 and returned to Dodge the same day.
Later career
Dodge kept Sabalo in use as a pleasure yacht until 1921, when he sold her to Van Lear Black of Baltimore, Maryland. Black in turn sold her in 1931 to the Albert Pack Corporation of Chicago, Illinois, which renamed her Breezin' Thru. In 1937, Leila Y. Post Montgomery of Battle Creek, Michigan, bought Breezin' Thru, then sold her in 1940 to Bearl Sprott Ltd. of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The Royal Canadian Navy acquired Breezin' Thru in 1940 and operated her as the patrol vessel HMCS Cougar (Z15) until 1945, then returned her to Bearl Sprott Ltd. in 1946.
Once again named Breezin' Thru, she operated as a pleasure yacht until sunk during a hurricane at Kingston, Jamaica, in September 1950.
References
- This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Department of the Navy: Navy History and Heritage Command: Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Sabalo (American Motor Yacht, 1916). Served as USS Sabalo (SP-225) in 1917-1919
- NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: HMCS Cougar (Z 15) ex-USS Sabalo (SP 225)
