USS Dawn (SP-26)

Note: This ship should not be confused with USS Dawn (SP-37), a yawl ordered delivered to the United States Navy in 1917 but never commissioned into service.

Dawn as a private pleasure craft sometime between 1914 and 1917, prior to her U.S. Navy service
History
United States
Name	USS Dawn
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Hehre and Aker, Clason Point, The Bronx, New York
Completed	1914
Acquired	19 June 1917
Commissioned	19 June 1917
Fate	Returned to owner 4 April 1918
Notes	Operated as private motorboat Dawn 1914-1917 and from 1918
General characteristics
Type	Repair boat
Length	51 ft (16 m)
Installed power	60-horsepower (0.045-megawatt) gasoline engine; 20-horsepower (0.015-megawatt) electric motor
Propulsion	Electric drive, with gasoline engine driving generator to power electric motor; one shaft
Speed	9 knots

The second USS Dawn (SP-26) was a motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a repair boat from 1917 to 1918.

Dawn was built in 1914 by Hehre and Aker at Clason Point in The Bronx, New York, as a private motorboat of the same name. The U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, W. T. Donnelley of Brooklyn, New York, on 19 June 1917 for World War I service as a repair boat, deeming her electric-drive propulsion plant suitable for furnishing electric power for lighting, machine shop work, or repairs. She was commissioned as USS Dawn (SP-26) on 19 June 1917, the day of her acquisition from Donnelley.

Dawn was assigned to the 2nd Naval District. Apparently she did not prove satisfactory in service, for a January 1918 U.S. Navy note commented that the Navy had decided to return her to her owner.

The Navy returned Dawn to Donnelley on 4 April 1918.