Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online:
Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Shadow III (SP 102)


Shadow III served both the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps
Motorboat:

  • Built in 1916 by the Purdy Boat Co., Miami Beach, FL
  • Acquired by the Navy 28 June 1917
  • Commissioned 4 September 1917
  • Decommissioned 25 January 1919
  • Transferred to the Marine Corps 1 August 1919
  • Sold in May 1920
  • Repossessed and resold 5 August 1921
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 6 t.
  • Length 50'
  • Beam 9'
  • Draft 2'
  • Speed 27.7 kts.
  • Complement: Six
  • Armament: One 1-pounder and two machine guns; Propulsion: Two 200hp 8-cylinder Seabury gasoline engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Shadow III 138k Underway, probably in the vicinity of Miami, Florida, circa 1917-1919
    U.S. Navy photo NH 102207    		 Naval Historical Center
    Shadow III 105k Off Miami, Florida, 27 April 1918.
    National Archives photo 80-G-1017181
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: Shadow III (SP-102), a motorboat built in 1916 by Purdy Boat Co., Miami Beach, Fla., was purchased on 12 June 1917 from her builders and commissioned on 4 September 1917, Ens. Charles D. Mack, USNRF, in command.

    Shadow III patrolled the Florida coast off Miami during World War I; and, after the war, acted as an aircraft crash boat for the Naval Air Station at Miami. She was decommissioned at Miami on 25 January 1919 and was delivered to the Marine Corps Base at Parris Island, S.C., on 1 August for further service. Shadow III was taken to the Charleston (S.C.) Navy Yard in December 1919 for survey and was sold on 5 August 1921 to Mike Letiff of Charleston, S.C.

    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Ship Index Back to the Section Patrol Craft (SP) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by David Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History