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NavSource Online:
Patrol Yacht Photo Archive

Patrol Yacht
Viking

Viking served both the U. S. Navy and Army.

Built in 1893 by John Roach and Son, Chester, PA; Acquired by the Navy, 22 April 1898; Commissioned, 11 May 1898; Decommissioned, 22 September 1898; Recommissioned, 29 September 1899; Decommissioned, 23 October 1899; Transferred to the War Department (Army), 9 December 1899; Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown).
Fate unknown.

Specifications: Displacement 218 t.; Length 122' (wl); Beam 21' (wl); Draft 8' 6"; Speed 11.75 kts.; Complement 43; Armament one 3-pounder and three 6-mm machine guns.
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Aileen/Viking 91k Off the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, after being fitted for naval service, 21 May 1898. Ship in right background is probably USS Aileen (1898-1920), another yacht converted for use in the Spanish-American War.
USN Photo 19-N-19-16-10
Naval Historical Center

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: The first Viking-an iron-hulled, steam yacht built in 1883 at Chester, Pa., by John Roach-was acquired by the Navy on 22 April 1898 from Mr. Horace A. Hutchins for service in the Spanish-American War converted for naval service at New York, she was placed in commission there on 11 May 1898, Lt. Henry Minett
in command.

Assigned to the North Atlantic Fleet as a dispatch ship, Viking remained at New York for the next two months. On 12 July, she departed New York bound for the blockading forces off the Cuban coast. After brief stops at Port Royal, S.C., and Key West, Fla., she joined the Fleet in Cuban waters on 28 July. After three weeks of duty carrying orders, messages, and passengers between ships on station on the blockade Viking ended her brief war service without having participated in any combat. She headed back to Key West on 16 August, remained overnight, and then continued her voyage-via Port Royal-to Hampton Roads, Va. She remained in the Hampton Roads-Norfolk area until 8 September when she headed up Chesapeake Bay to Annapolis, Md. After a two-day visit, she returned to Norfolk on the 11th.

She was placed out of commission there on 22 September. Viking remained at Norfolk until 29 September 1899 at which time she was reactivated for a bit more than three weeks of service which ended on 23 October. On 9 December 1899, Viking was transferred to the War Department. No records telling of her Army service or of her ultimate disposition have been found.


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