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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Mauna Loa (SP 28)



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - George - Dog - King
Motor Yacht:

  • Built in 1916 by George Lawley and Sons, Boston, MA
  • Acquired by the Navy 10 May 1917
  • Commissioned 11 May 1917
  • Returned to her owner 5 December 1918
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 18 t. (gr)
  • Length 56'
  • Beam 9' 6"
  • Draft 2' 9"
  • Speed 20 kts.
  • Complement: Seven
  • Armament: One machine gun
  • Propulsion: Two 6-cylinder 115hp Van Blerck gasoline engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Mauna Loa 35k
    Namesake:

    Mauna Loa is one of five volcano's that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The largest subaerial volcano in both mass and volume, Mauna Loa has historically been considered the largest volcano on Earth, dwarfed only by Tamu Massif. It is an active shield volcano with relatively gentle slopes, with a volume estimated at approximately 18,000 cubic miles (75,000 km3), although its peak is about 125 feet (38 m) lower than that of its neighbor, Mauna Kea. Lava eruptions from Mauna Loa are silica-poor and very fluid, and they tend to be non-explosive

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 3 November 2020
    Mauna Loa 61k Underway in harbor, prior to her World War I Navy service. A U.S. Navy destroyer is in the left background.
    Photographed by Brown & Dawson, Stamford, Connecticut
    U.S. Navy photo NH 102022    		 Naval Historical Center
    Mauna Loa 75k Underway in harbor, prior to her World War I Navy service
    Photographed by Brown & Dawson, Stamford, Connecticut
    U.S. Navy photo NH 102023
    Mauna Loa 112k Underway circa 1916
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 99595    		 Robert Hurst
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: The first Mauna Loa, a motor yacht, was built by George Lawley & Sons, Neponset, Mass., in 1916; acquired by the Navy under free-lease contract from A. C. James 10 May 1917; and commissioned the next day.

    Mauna Loa was called in for special duty during World War I, operating off the 1st Naval District until the Armistice. She decommissioned 5 December and was returned to her owner the same day.
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