USS Robert H. McCurdy

USS Robert H. McCurdy (SP-3096 or ID-3157)[1] was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1918 to 1919.

USS Robert H. McCurdy (SP-3157) in harbor in 1918.
History
United States
NameUSS Robert H. McCurdy
NamesakePrevious name retained
BuilderCobb, Butler & Company, Rockland, Maine
Completed1903
Acquired25 July 1918
Commissioned25 July 1918
Decommissionedearly February 1919
FateSold June 1919
NotesOperated as civilian schooner Robert H. McCurdy 1903-1918
General characteristics
TypePatrol vessel
Tonnage735 Gross register tons
Length178 ft (54 m)
Beam37 ft 2 in (11.33 m)
Draft12 ft 1 in (3.68 m)
Complement32

Construction, acquisition, and commissioning

Robert H. McCurdy was built as a civilian wooden four-masted schooner of the same name in 1903 by Cobb, Butler & Company at Rockland, Maine. In 1918, the U.S. Navy purchased her from W. S. Job & Company for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. The Navy took control of her on 25 July 1918 at Norfolk, Virginia, and commissioned her the same day at as USS Robert H. McCurdy (SP-3096 or ID-3096).

Operational history

Robert H. McCurdy remained in the Norfolk area until mid-August 1918, when she moved to Lewes, Delaware, joining the submarine tender USS Savannah (Submarine Tender No. 8) there as a unit of Division 8 of the United States Atlantic Fleet submarine force. She operated from Lewes as a decoy ship teamed with a U.S Navy submarine following her during antisubmarine patrols off the United States East Coast. It was hoped that her innocent appearance would lure unsuspecting German submarines to the surface to attack her with gunfire, allowing the submerged U.S. Navy submarine nearby to torpedo and sink them. However, Robert H. McCurdy never encountered a German submarine.

In late October 1918, Robert H. McCurdy was rebased at Cold Spring Inlet at Cape May, New Jersey. On 29 November 1918 she moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey, where she assisted in minesweeping work until 8 December 1918. She then returned to Cold Spring Inlet.

Disposal

Late in January 1919, Robert H. McCurdy was towed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she arrived on 29 January 1919 for inactivation. She was both decommissioned there in February 1919 and subsequently stricken from the Navy List. She was sold in June 1919.

Notes
  1. According to the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/r7/robert_h_mccurdy_.htm and NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Robert H. McCurdy (SP 3157), Robert H. McCurdy has the section patrol number SP-3157; according to of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Robert H. McCurdy (ID # 3157), 1918-1919 Originally the civilian schooner Robert H. McCurdy (1903), she had the naval registry identification number 3157 (ID-3157).

Bibliography
  • Beyer, Edward F. & Beyer, Kenneth M. (1991). "U. S. Navy Mystery Ships". Warship International. International Naval Research Organization. XXVIII (4): 322–372. ISSN 0043-0374.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

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