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Civilian Identification Numbered Ships Photo Archive

Ripple (ID 2439)

Foam Class Trawler/Minesweeper:

  • Built as Ripple in 1910 by the Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, MA
  • Launched 20 November 1910
  • Delivered 23 December 1910
  • Purchased by the Russian Government in 1917 and renamed T44
  • Acquired by the Navy 29 May 1918
  • Placed in service as Ripple (ID 2439), 6 August 1918
  • Decommissioned 11 February 1919 at the New York Navy Yard and returned to the Czarist Russian Government the same day
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 450 t.
  • Length 114' 4"
  • Beam 22' 6"
  • Draft 9' 9"
  • Speed 11 kts.
  • Complement 33
  • Armament: One 6-pounder and two machine guns
  • Propulsion: One single ended boiler, one 450hp vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Foam 79k Tied up together, probably prior to their World War I Navy service. These trawlers, previously owned by the Bay State Fishing Company, of Boston, were chartered by the Navy from representatives of the Russian Government in May 1918 and later commissioned as USS Foam (ID 2496), USS Ripple (ID 2439) and USS Spray (ID 2491)
    U.S. Navy photo NH 102236    		 Naval Historical Center
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: The second Ripple was launched 20 November 1910 by Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, Mass., as a steel fishing trawler for the Bay State Fishing Co. of Massachusetts. During 1917 the commercial U.S. trawlers Foam, Ripple, and Spray were purchased by the Czarist Russian Government. Ripple being renamed T44, but remained in the United States due to the deteriorating Russian political situation. She was chartered 29 May 1918 for U.S. Navy service under her original mercantile name, Ripple, and placed in service 6 August 1918 at Tebo's Yacht Basin, N.Y., Chief Boatswain Mate Lewis E. Dodd in command.

    Outfitted as a minesweeper, Ripple operated on patrol and minesweeping duty off the Ambrose and Fire Island light vessels into 1919 while stationed at Base No. 8, Tompkinsville N.Y. Decommissioned 11 February 1919 at the New York Navy Yard, Ripple was returned to representatives of the Czarist Russian Government the same day.

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