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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Wacondah (SP 238)



Call sign:
George - Sail - Mike - King

Call sign (1919):
Nan - Unit - Dog - Nan
Patrol Yacht:

  • Built in 1901 as Revolution by the Charles L. Seabury Co. and the Gas Engine and Power Co., Morris Heights, NY
  • Renamed Wacondah in 1907
  • Acquired by the Navy 24 May 1917
  • Commissioned USS Wacondah (SP 238), 14 September 1917
  • Decommissioned and struck from the Navy list 21 August 1919
  • Sold 4 June 1920 and renamed Intercolonial
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 190 t.
  • Length 177'
  • Beam 17'
  • Draft 7' 3"
  • Speed 18 kts.
  • Complement 28
  • Armament: Two 6-pounders and two machine guns
  • Propulsion: One 1400 iHP triple-expansion engine, one steam turbine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Revolution
    Wacondah 128k In port when first completed in 1901. Location is probably the Charles L. Seabury & Company or Gas Engine & Power Company boatyard at Morris Heights, New York. The craft on the shipways at left is probably USS Wilkes (Torpedo Boat No. 35).
    U.S. Navy photo NH 100224    		 Naval Historical Center
    Wacondah 112k Underway, circa 1901
    U.S. Navy photo NH 102501
    Wacondah
    Wacondah 148k Underway, prior to World War I
    U.S. Navy photos NH 99276 and NH 102502    		 Naval Historical Center
    Wacondah 88k
    USS Wacondah (SP 238)
    Wacondah 152k Underway, circa 1917-1919. Photographed from on board USS Thetis (SP-391), which was lying at anchor off Race Rock Light [on the west end of Fishers Island and the eastern entrance to Long Island Sound]
    U.S. Navy photos NH 41951 and NH 41950    		 Naval Historical Center
    Wacondah 119k
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: Revolution—a steel-hulled, screw steam yacht designed by Charles L. Seabury—was completed in 1901, at Morris Heights, N.Y., by the Charles L. Seabury Co. and the Gas Engine and Power Co., for mining engineer F. Augustus Heinze. One of the first American turbine-powered steam "express" yachts, Revolution was later acquired by Boston banker Charles Hayden in 1907 and renamed Wacondah.

    When the United States entered World War I on 6 April 1917, the Navy soon began collecting ships and small craft from civilian owners to serve as auxiliaries and patrol craft. Inspected at the 3d Naval District, Wacondah was acquired by the Navy on 24 May 1917. Fitted out for wartime service, Wacondah was commissioned on 14 September 1917, Lt. (jg.) Samuel Wainwright, USNRF, in command.

    By virtue of her light construction—built for speed rather than sea-keeping—Wacondah was restricted to "sheltered waters." Assigned to the 3d Naval District, she operated on local patrol duties out of New York harbor for the duration of the war. Decommissioned and struck from the Navy list on 21 August 1919, Wacondah was sold on 4 June 1920 to the International Steamship and Trading Co.

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