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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Joseph M. Clark (ID 1244)
ex-SP-1244

Harbor Tug:

  • Built in 1899 by the R. W. Spedden Co., Baltimore, MD
  • Acquired by the Navy 26 October 1917 and commissioned USS Joseph M. Clark (SP 1244) the same day
  • Reclassified ID-1244
  • Decommissioned 12 November 1918, struck from the Navy Register and returned to her owner
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 93 t.
  • Length 86' 2"
  • Beam 20' 7"
  • Draft 11'
  • Speed 11 kts.
  • Armament: Two 3-pounders
  • Propulsion: Steam, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Tug Joseph M. Clark
    Joseph M. Clark 96k In port, prior to her World War I era Naval service
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 99434    		 Naval Historical Center
    USS Joseph M. Clark (ID 1244)
    Joseph M. Clark 71k Photographed during the winter of 1917-18, probably in the Norfolk, Virginia, area.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 101949    		 Naval Historical Center
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: Joseph M. Clark a steam tug, built in 1899 by the R. W. Spedden Co., Baltimore, Md., was leased by the Navy from Joseph M. Clark & Co. of Norfolk, Va. 26 October 1917, and commissioned the same day, Boatswain Merriken, USNRF, in command. Assigned to the 5th Naval District at Norfolk, Joseph M. Clark served as a harbor tug and section patrol sweeper out of Norfolk, operating along the lower reaches of the James and Elizabeth Rivers. She decommissioned 12 November and was returned to her owner.
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