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NavSource Online:
Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

SP-647
ex-California (SP 647)

Motorboat:

  • Built in 1910 by Anderson's, San Francisco, CA for the San Francisco Bar Pilots' Association
  • Acquired by the Navy 28 April 1917 and commissioned USS California (SP-647)
  • Delivered 10 July 1917
  • Renamed SP-647 to avoid confusion with California (BB 44)
  • Returned to the San Francisco Bar Pilot's Association in November 1918
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 34 t.
  • Length 58' 2"
  • Beam 14' 1"
  • Draft 7' 9"
  • Speed 9.2 kts.
  • Armament: Two 1-pounders
  • Propulsion: One 80hp Standard gasoline engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    California
    California 140k In port, probably at San Francisco, California, prior to her World War I era Naval service
    U.S. Navy photo NH 83803    		 Original photo: Naval Historical Center
    Replacement photo: Robert Hurst
    California 109k At San Francisco, California, circa 1916
    U.S. Navy photo NH 99532
    USS SP-647
    SP-647 79k c. 1918
    Entering harbor off the starboard quarter of Robinson (DD 88)
    Photo from the Mike Corwith Collection in the Special Photo Features Section at NavSource    		 NavSource
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: The fourth California (No. 647), motor boat, served in the Navy during 1917-18.
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