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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Vivace (SP 583)

Patrol Yacht:

  • Built in 1904 as the yacht Vixen by the Charles L. Seabury Co. and the Gas Engine and Power Co., Morris Heights, NY
  • Renamed Vivace
  • Acquired by the Navy 18 June 1917
  • Commissioned USS Vivace (SP 583), 20 September 1917
  • Decommissioned 28 September 1918 and struck from the Navy list
  • Sold as "junk" 16 April 1919 to Marvin Briggs, Inc. of Brooklyn, NY.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 66 t.
  • Length 118'
  • Beam 12'
  • Depth of hold 7' 6"
  • Draft 4' 3"
  • Speed 22 kts.
  • Complement 12
  • Armament: One 1-pounder and two .30 cal. machine guns
  • Propulsion: Steam.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Yacht Vivace
    Vivace 127k Underway, prior to World War I
    U.S. Navy photo NH 89785.    		 Naval Historical Center
    Vivace (SP 583)
    Vivace 75k In port, probably laid up awaiting disposal, circa late 1918 or early 1919
    U.S. Navy photo NH 102364.    		 Naval Historical Center
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: Vixen—a composite-construction, screw-steam yacht designed by the noted naval architect, Charles L. Seabury—was built in 1904 at Morris Heights, N.Y., as a joint project of the firms of Charles L. Seabury Co. and the Gas Engine and Power Co. Later renamed Vivace and owned by the firms that built her, the yacht was inspected by the Navy for possible use as a section patrol craft and was assigned the classification SP-583.

    "Enrolled and ordered delivered" on 18 June 1917, Vivace was commissioned on 20 September 1917 and was assigned to the 3d Naval District. No deck logs for this vessel are extant; but it is reasonable to surmise that she conducted local patrol operations in that district. One must assume that such operations were interspersed with the usual maintenance, upkeep, and training evolutions common to ships of her type. Listed as "out of commission" on 28 September 1918, Vivace was simultaneously struck from the Navy list. She was ultimately sold to Marvin Briggs, Inc., of Brooklyn, N.Y., on 16 April 1919,
    for junk.

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