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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Otis W. Douglas (SP 313)

Menhaden Fishing Vessel/Minesweeper:

  • Built in 1912 by Jackson and Sharpe, Wilmington, DE
  • Acquired by the Navy 7 April 1917
  • Commissioned 10 August 1917 at Norfolk, VA
  • Sank in heavy seas 27 April 1919.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 300 t.
  • Length 158'
  • Beam 24'
  • Draft 8' 9"
  • Speed 10.4 kts.
  • Complement 36
  • Armament: One 3"/50 mount and two machine guns
  • Propulsion: One single ended boiler, one 600hp vertical compound steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Otis W. Douglas
    Douglas 65k Photographed prior to World War I
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 100225    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Douglas (SP 313)
    Douglas 316k Moored to a buoy off Lorient, France, circa 1918. She has the numeral "5" painted on her bow
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2011
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 107332    		 Robert Hurst
    Cahill 90k Lorient, France. View taken on 4 July 1918, showing U.S. Navy minesweepers in the right center, alongside the dock at Base 19. The French Navy machinist school is at left. The inboard ship is a hulk, presumably an old French warship employed as a harbor support vessel. Minesweepers tied up outboard of it include (from left to right): USS Cahill (SP 493), Douglas, USS Hinton
    (SP-485), USS Courtney (SP-375)    , and USS McNeal (SP-333). These former fishing vessels were originally known by their civilian names, respectively: Winfield S. Cahill, Otis W. Douglas, John B. Hinton, Warren J. Courtney and Kenneth L. McNeal. Though ordered shortened to surnames by a July 1917 Navy General Order, the longer names were often used afterwards
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 45084
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Grant T. Stephansen, USNRF - Awarded the Navy Cross (1918)10 August 1917
    02LTJG Norman Small Cook, USNRF - Awarded the Navy Cross (1918)August 1918
    03LT Ralph Benjamin Romaine, USNRF20 October 1918 - 21 December 1918
    04ENS Abner J. McKenzie, USNRF1919
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    View the Otis W. Douglas (SP 313)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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