USS Howarda (SP-144) was an armed yacht that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919.

History
United States
NameUSS Howarda
NamesakePrevious name retained
BuilderEssington Company, Pennsylvania
Completed1913
Acquired11 June 1917
Commissioned19 June 1917
Stricken31 March 1919
FateTransferred to United States Coast Guard 3 May 1919[1] or 1 July 1919[2]
Notes
  • Operated as private yacht Howarda 1913–1917
  • Served in U.S. Coast Guard as USCGC Vidette 1919–1922
General characteristics
TypePatrol vessel
Displacement38 tons
Length75 ft (23 m)
Beam16 ft (4.9 m)
Draft3 ft 4 in (1.02 m)
PropulsionGasoline engine
Speed9 knots
Armament1 × 3-pounder gun

Howarda was built as a wooden-hulled civilian yacht in 1913 by the Essington Company in Essington, Pennsylvania. The U.S. Navy acquired Howarda from her owner, H. S. Kerner of Boca Grande, Florida, on 11 June 1917 for use as a patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned on 19 June 1917 as USS Howarda (SP-144).

Assigned to the 7th Naval District, Howarda was based at Egmont Key, Florida, and patrolled waters in the Gulf of Mexico and Tampa Bay, serving as guard boat and section patrol craft.

Howarda was stricken from the Navy Directory and offered for sale on 31 March 1919, but later was withdrawn from sale. Instead, she was transferred to the United States Department of the Treasury for use by the United States Coast Guard on 3 May 1919[3] or 1 July 1919.[4] She served in the Coast Guard from 1919 to 1922 as cutter USCGC Vidette.

Notes

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  1. ^ Per the United States Coast Guard Historian's Office (at http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Vidette1919.asp)
  2. ^ Per the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h8/howarda.htm) and NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170144.htm)
  3. ^ Per the United States Coast Guard Historian's Office (at http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Vidette1919.asp)
  4. ^ Per the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h8/howarda.htm) and NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170144.htm)

References

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