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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Elf (SP 81)

Motorboat:

  • Built in 1917 by Stanley Vansant, Atlantic City, NJ
  • Commissioned 3 May 1917
  • Delivered to the Navy 13 May 1917
  • Decommissioned 9 January 1919 and returned to her owner, Louis H. Eisenlohr of Philadelphia, PA
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 22 t.
  • Length 53'
  • Beam 12'
  • Draft 2' 3"
  • Speed 22 kts.
  • Complement: Eight
  • Armament: One 1-pounder and one machine gun
  • Propulsion: Two 140hp 6-cylinder Van Blerck gasoline engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Elf 29k
    Namesake:

    An elf (plural: elves) is a type of humanlike supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. In medieval Germanic-speaking cultures, elves seem generally to have been thought of as beings with magical powers and supernatural beauty, ambivalent towards everyday people and capable of either helping or hindering them. However, the details of these beliefs have varied considerably over time and space, and have flourished in both pre-Christian and Christian cultures

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 16 November 2020
    Elf 101k In port on a winter day, circa early 1917
    U.S. Navy photo NH 104062    		 Naval Historical Center
    Elf 110k In a tropical harbor, circa early 1917
    U.S. Navy photo NH 104063
    Commanding Officers
    01LTJG Henry J. Bowes, USN3 May 1917 - 1918
    02ENS Henry I. Kyneman, USN1918
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler
    View the Elf (SP 81)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site
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