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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Sapphire (SP 710)

Patrol Yacht:

  • Built in 1900 by the Herreshoff Mfg. Co., Bristol, RI
  • Acquired by the Navy 8 June 1917
  • Commissioned 14 September 1917
  • Decommissioned 16 December 1918, struck from the Navy Register and returned to her owner
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 53 t.
  • Length 98'
  • Beam 14'
  • Draft 5' 9"
  • Speed 10 kts.
  • Complement 19
  • Armament: One 6-pounder and one .30 cal. machine gun
  • Propulsion: One triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Sapphire 11k
    Namesake:

    Sapphire - A precious stone of transparent rich blue corundum

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 11 September 2020
    Sapphire 103k In port, prior to her World War I era Navy service
    U.S. Navy photo NH 99428    		 Naval Historical Center
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships:

    On 8 June 1917, after the United States entered World War I, Sapphire (SP-710), a single-screw, wooden yacht built in 1900 by Herreshoff Mfg. Co., Bristol, R.I., was enrolled in the Naval Coast Defense Reserve by her owner, Jeremiah Milbank of New York City; and commissioned on 14 September 1917 at Brooklyn, N.Y., Ensign John J. Montgomery, USNRF, in command.

    After fitting out for naval service at Tebo's Yacht Basin, Sapphire joined the Section Patrol of the 3d Naval District on 14 July 1918. Sapphire patrolled the waters off Execution Light, alternating with or joining Sturdy (SP-82), Jimetta (SP-878), and Josephine (SP-913). Inactive from 20 November 1918, she was transferred from Section Base No. 7 to New York harbor on 10 December 1918.

    Sapphire was towed by Minerva (SP-425) to Robert Jacob's shipyard on 16 December 1918, decommissioned, and returned to her owner the same day.

    DANFS courtesy of Ramon Jackson

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