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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

HMAS Lanikai
ex-USS Lanikai
ex-USS Hermes

Call sign(1919):
Nan - Rush - Pup

Call sign (1933):
William - Jig - Dog - Quack


Lanikai served the Navies of the United States and Australia
Patrol Yacht:

  • Built in 1914 by the W. F. Stone and Co., Oakland, CA
  • Taken over by the Navy on Executive order and commissioned USS Hermes 1 April 1918
  • Decommissioned 16 January 1919 and turned over to the Hawaiian territorial government
  • Turned over to the Pacific Air Detachment
  • Struck from the Navy list 1 July 1926
  • Sold 21 October 1926 to the Lanikai Fish Co. of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii and renamed Lanikai
  • Sold in 1929 to the Hawaiian Sea Products Co. of Honolulu, HI as the fishing boat Lanikai
  • Laid up in 1931
  • Sold in 1933 to Northrup H. Castle of Honolulu
  • Sold in 1936 to Harry W. Crosby of Seattle, WA
  • Sold in 1937 to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for the making of the movie "Hurricane"
  • Sold in 1939 to E. M. Grimm of the Philippines for the Luzon Stevedoring Co.
  • Chartered by the Navy 5 December 1941 and commissioned USS Lanikai
  • Transferred 22 August 1942 to the Australian Navy
  • Commissioned HMAS Lanikai 9 December 1942
  • Returned to U.S. custody 22 August 1945
  • Sunk in 1947 off Nabasan wharf during typhoon at Subic Bay, Philippines
  • Registered in 1948 to George W. Simmie of San Francisco, CA as the yacht Lanikai.

    Hermes Specifications:

  • Displacement 340 t.
  • Length 89' 5"
  • Beam 25' 5"
  • Draft 6' 9"
  • Complement 31
  • Armament: Two machine guns
  • Propulsion: One 85hp 3-cylinder Atlas gasoline engine, one shaft.

    Lanikai Specifications:

  • Displacement 150 t.
    1931 - 209 t.
  • Length 87' 3"
    1931 - 87'
  • Beam 25.4'
    1931- 25'
  • Draft 9'
  • Speed 7 kts.
  • Complement 19
    1931 - 15
    1933 - Eight
  • Armament: One 3-pounder, one .50 cal. machine gun and two .30 cal. Lewis machine guns
  • Propulsion: One Union diesel engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Hermes
    Hermes 81k At Pearl Harbor, circa 1918. Ships in the background are USS Monadnock (Monitor No. 3) and probably USS Navajo (1908-1948)
    U.S. Navy photo NH 101786    		 Naval History and Heritage Command
    USS Lanikai
    Lanikai 66k
    Namesake:

    Lanikai - Small residential community located just south of Kailua on Oahu's (Hawaii) windward coast

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Lanikai 35k Underway, her boxy superstructure cutting down her speed
    Photo from the book "Cruise of the Lanikai" Incitement to War, by Kemp Tolley
    Lanikai 46k Filipino crewmen scrub down the decks on Lanikai. Behind the sailor (center) may be sen projecting vertically, the "one machine gun" which President Roosevelt felt would add to Lanikai's legitimacy as a man-of-war
    Photo from the book "Cruise of the Lanikai" Incitement to War, by Kemp Tolley
    Lanikai 41k "Guns" Pickering works on his "main battery," the 3-pounder Spanish-American War quick-fire, as Prudencio Tumbagahan mans the helm and "Doc" Cossette tends his
    fishing line
    Photo from the book "Cruise of the Lanikai" Incitement to War, by Kemp Tolley
    Lanikai 119k During World War II Hyperwar, U.S. Navy in WW II
    Lanikai 79k Lanikai, en route from Manila to Fremantle in early 1942 to escape the Japanese invasion Joe Radigan
    Commanding Officers
    01LT John T. Diggs, USNRF1 April 1918 - 1919
    02ENS Edward Hallin, USNRF1919
    03LT Kemp Tolley, USN - USNA Class of 1929
    Awarded the Bronze Star, the Navy Commendation Medal and the Purple Heart - Retired as Rear Admiral    		5 December 1941 - 27 April 1942
    04LCDR Charles Adair, USN - USNA Class of 1926
    Awarded the Silver Star (1943) and the Legion of Merit (1944) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		27 April 1942 - 22 August 1942
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    View the Hermes
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website

    View the Lanikai
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website

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