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Patrol Yacht Photo Archive

Despatch (PY 8)
ex-Despatch (SP 68)



Call sign:
George - Sail - Mike - Cast

ex-Vixen (SP 68)

Despatch served both the U. S. Navy and the State of Florida.
Patrol Yacht:

  • Built in 1913 as the yacht Vixen by the Gas Engine and Power Co., and Charles L. Seabury Co., Morris Heights, NY
  • Acquired by the Navy 6 August 1917
  • Commissioned USS Vixen (SP 68), 10 August 1917
    1921 edition of Ships Data, U.S. Naval Vessels lists commissioning dates as 11 August 1917 and 12 April 1920
  • Renamed Despatch 21 August 1917
  • Reclassified as a Patrol Yacht, PY-8, 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned 9 December 1921 at New York
  • Transferred to the State of Florida 10 May 1928
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 237 t.
  • Length 167' 9"
  • Beam 20'
    1921 - 22'
  • Draft 6'
    1921 - 7' 2"
  • Speed 16 kts.
    1921 - 16.3 kts.
  • Complement 49
  • Armament: Two 3-pounders
  • Propulsion: Two Seabury boilers, two 370ihp verticle triple-expansion steam engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Yacht Vixen
    Drspatch 143k In port, probably in the New York City area in early August 1917, when she was taken over by the Navy for World
    War I service.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 94463    		 Naval Historical Center
    USS Despatch (PY 8)
    Drspatch 67k In harbor, possibly during 1920-1921.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 545-4    		 Naval Historical Center
    View the Despatch (PY 8)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval Historical Center web site
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