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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Tarantula (SP 124)

Sunk 28 October 1918
Patrol Yacht:

  • Built in 1912 by the George Lawley and Son Corp., Neponset, MA
  • Acquired by the Navy 25 April 1917 and commissioned USS Tarantula (SP 124)
  • Sunk 28 October 1918 about 8 miles southwest of the Fire Island, NY light vessel after a collision with the Royal Holland Lloyd Line steamship SS Frisia.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 169.97 t.
  • Length 128' 9"
  • Beam 19' 3"
  • Draft 9'
  • Speed 14 kts.
  • Armament: Two 6-pounders and two .30 cal. machine guns.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Yacht Tarantula
    SP-124 53k Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum photo from the October 2005 edition of Naval History Joe Radigan
    SP-124 120k In a harbor, dressed with flags, prior to World War I.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 82946    		 Naval Historical Center
    SP-124 85k Dressed with flags, while in harbor prior to World War I.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 102255
    USS Tarantula (SP 124)
    SP-124 54k SC-56 in the background.
    National Archives Photo    		 .
    SC-64 125k SC-64 underway in a New York area harbor, 1918. Ships in the immediate background are (from left to right): USS Bailey (Torpedo Boat No. 21); Tarantula; USS Sabalo (SP-225); A Bagley class torpedo boat; and USS SC-55.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 59816    		 Naval Historical Center
    Tarantula 114k Tarantula, in left center, and USS Sabalo (SP-225), in center. Docked in a New York area harbor, 1918. A Bagley class torpedo boat is also present, at right. This image is cropped from the Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 59816
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 59816-A    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LTJG William Kissam Vanderbilt, USNRF9 May 1917
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: The second Tarantula (SP-124), a motor yacht built in 1912 at Neponset, Mass., by George Lawley and Son Corp., was acquired by the Navy on 25 April 1917 from W. K. Vanderbilt of New York City. Assigned to section patrol in the 3d Naval District during World War I, Tarantula operated along the coastal waters of Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey until October 1918. On 28 October, she sank about eight miles southwest of the Fire Island light vessel after colliding with the Royal Holland Lloyd Line steamship SS Frisia. Her name was subsequently struck from the Navy list.
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