Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.


NavSource Online:
Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Sappho (SP 1427)


Ferry: Built in 1886 by the New England Shipbuilding Co., Bath, ME; Acquired by the Navy, 6 August 1918; Commissioned, 20 August 1918; Decommissioned, 18 February 1919 and returned to her owner. Fate unknown.

Specifications: Displacement 275 t.; Length 149' 9½"; Beam 28' 9½"; Draft 10'; Speed 15 kts.; Complement unknown; Armament none.


Click On Image
For Full Size Image
Size Image Description Source
Sappho 105k Photographed prior to her World War I Navy service.
USN Photo NH 102193
Naval Historical Center
Sappho 113k In port during World War I.
USN Photo NH 42443
Naval Historical Center

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships:

Sappho

A sixth-century B. C. Greek lyric poetess.

The first Sappho was built during 1886 by New England Shipbuilding Co., Bath, Maine, as a wooden passenger vessel acquired by the Navy on 6 August 1918 from William C. Sproul of Chester, Pa.; and commissioned on 20 August 1918, Boatswain D. Sullivan USNRF, in command.

Assigned to the 4th Naval District for local transport duty, Sappho was accidentally rammed by the S.S. Delaware on 25 August 1918. Necessary repairs were completed by 20 October, allowing Sappho to resume transport service between Philadelphia Navy Yard and nearby ports in New York and New Jersey.

Sappho was decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pa., on 18 February 1919, and returned to her owner the same day. Sappho's Navy crew was returned to the Navy Yard by the tug Triton.

DANFS courtesy of Ramon Jackson


Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Ship Type Index Back to the Section Patrol Craft (SP) Photo Index

Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster

This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan
© 2005 Joseph M. Radigan © 2005 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.