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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Blue Bird (SP 465)



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - Cast - Pup - George



Civilian call sign (1941):
King - Love - Peter - Easy
Motorboat:

  • Built in 1911 as Houqua by Matthews Boat Building Corp., Port Clinton, OH for Henry B. Pancoast, Jr. of Philadelphia, PA
  • Renamed Parthenia and Blue Bird
  • Acquired by the Navy 25 June 1917
  • Commissioned USS Blue Bird (SP 465), 17 December 1917
  • Returned to her owner 7 February 1919
  • Remained in use as a pleasure craft until about 1950
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 36 t.
    1941 - 24 t.
  • Length 72'
  • Beam 12'
  • Draft 3' 4½"
  • Speed 12 kts.
  • Complement 11
  • Armament: One 1-pounder and one machine gun
  • Propulsion: Two 60hp 4-cylinder Murray and Tregurth gasoline engines, two shafts
    1941 - Two 6-cylinder Lathrop gasoline engines.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Bluebird 27k Namesake: The bluebird is a small North American songbird Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 9 April 2020
    Blue Bird 108k Underway prior to World War I
    U.S. Navy photo NH 95903    		 Naval Historical Center
    Blue Bird 172k In port, circa the late summer or fall of 1918. USS Progressive (ID 2003) is tied up alongside Westchester (SP 3103). The bow of Blue Bird is visible at left. USS Mustang (SP-36) is in the left middle distance
    U.S. Navy photo NH 102370
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships:

    Bluebird

    The bluebird is a small North American songbird.

    SP-465, a 67-foot motor boat of 1917-19, was also known as Blue Bird.

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