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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Tuna (SP 664)

Yacht:

  • Built in 1911 by the Neilson Yacht Building Co., Baltimore, MD
  • Acquired by the Navy 11 June 1917
  • Commissioned 12 June 1917
  • Struck from the Navy list 11 January 1919 and returned to her owner
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 81 t.
  • Length 94'
  • Beam 16'
  • Draft 4'
  • Speed 12 kts.
  • Complement 19
  • Armament: One 1-pounder and one machine gun
  • Propulsion: Two 150hp 6-cylinder Standard gasoline engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Yacht Tuna
    Tuna 79k Ready for launching, at the Neilson Yacht Building Company yard, Baltimore, Maryland, 1911
    U.S. Navy photo NH 102265    		 Naval Historical Center
    USS Tuna (SP 664)
    Tuna 94k In a northeastern U.S. harbor, 1917
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2008
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 106242    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01ENS John W. Merriman, USNRF1918
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History:

    Tuna

    Any of numerous large, vigorous, spiny-finned fishes including some highly esteemed for sport and food.

    The first Tuna (SP-664)—a motor yacht built in 1911 at Baltimore, Md., by the Neilson Yacht Building Co.—was acquired under free lease from Mr. Edward L. Welch of Philadelphia, Pa., on 11 June 1917 and was commissioned on 12 June 1917. During World War I, Tuna was assigned to the Block Island section base in the 2d Naval District and patrolled the coastline between Long Island and Martha's Vineyard. On 11 January 1919, she was returned to her owner, and her name was struck from the Navy list.

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