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NavSource Online:
Patrol Yacht Photo Archive

Despatch (PY 8)
ex-Despatch (SP 68)
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; 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'; Draft 6'; Speed 16kts; Complement 49; Armament two 3-pounders.

Click On Image
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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