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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Russ (SP 1151)

Motorboat:

  • Built in 1917 as Hull No. 278 by the Greenpoint Basin and Construction Co., Greenpoint, Long Island, NY
  • Acquired by the Navy 9 August 1917
  • Named Russ (SP 1151), 28 November 1917
  • Russ was never commissioned in the U. S. Navy
  • Struck from the Naval Register in late 1919
  • Sold 29 March 1921
  • Burned and sank 27 March 1924.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 14.5 t.
  • Length 60'
  • Beam 10'
  • Draft 3"
  • Speed 30 kts.
  • Complement, eight
  • Armament: One 3-pounder and one machine gun
  • Propulsion: Two 275 - 400ihp Duesenberg 8-cylinder 4-cycle gasoline engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    SP-689 106k Sailors on deck of Uncas (SP 689) amidships, probably at Greenport, Long Island, New York, circa summer 1917. The craft astern, bearing the number "SP 63", is probably Greenport Hull 278, which later became Russ. She is definitely not USS Rivalen (SP-63).
    Collection of Robert S. Waters. Donated by Mrs. Alice W. Thomas, 1972.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 98347    		 Naval Historical Center
    Russ 84k Greenport Hull 278 photographed in 1917, after she was completed by the Greenport Basin and Construction Company, Greenport, Long Island, New York, and probably after she was acquired by the U.S. Navy. The marking "S.P. 63" on her stern (partially lined out on the original print) is not her U.S. Navy number.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 101363
    Russ 130k A U.S. Navy Motor Torpedo Boat in a Northeastern yacht basin (probably at Greenport, Long Island, New York), circa summer 1917. This is probably C-250, a 50-foot experimental torpedo boat purchased from the Greenport Basin and Construction Company soon after the U.S. entered World War I. A trainable torpedo tube is mounted on her after deck. The boat behind her, with number "63" painted on her pilothouse and a life ring marked "SP 63", is not USS Rivalen (SP-63), but is probably Greenport Hull 278, which later became Russ
    Collection of Robert S. Waters. Donated by Mrs. Alice W. Thomas, 1972
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 101058    		 Robert Hurst
    Russ 64k At anchor, probably in Florida waters, circa 1917-1919.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 102167    		 Naval Historical Center
    Russ 69k Russ, at left, and USS Velocipede (SP-1258), at right, at Miami, Florida, 27 June 1918.
    National Archives photo 80-G-1017184
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: Russ, built in 1917 as the wooden vedette boat No. 278 for the Imperial Russian Navy by Greenpoint Basin & Construction Co., was acquired 9 August 1917 for U.S. Navy service as a patrol boat and renamed Russ 28 November l917.

    Although assigned to the 3d Naval District, Russ was never commissioned in the U.S. Navy. She was sold 29 March 1921 to John Emile of Jacksonville, Fla., for service as a yacht. Russ subsequently burned and sank 27 March 1924 off St. John's Bar, Fla., without loss of life.

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