USS Spartan

	Spartan as a commercial tug sometime between 1912 and 1917, prior to her service as U.S. Navy minesweeper USS Spartan (SP-336).
History
United States
Name	USS Spartan
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Skinner Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Baltimore, Maryland
Completed	1912
Acquired	27 April 1917[1]
Commissioned	22 September 1917
Fate	Returned to owner 20 September 1919; hulk still afloat as of February 2008
Notes	Operated as commercial tug Spartan 1912–1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Minesweeper
Tonnage	226 gross register tons
Length	105 ft 10.8 in (32.278 m)
Beam	25 ft 1.2 in (7.650 m)
Draft	10 ft (3.0 m) aft
Speed	12 miles per hour[2]
Armament	2 × 1-pounder guns

USS Spartan (SP-336) was a minesweeper that served in the United States Navy from 1917 to 1919.

Spartan was built as a commercial tug of the same name in 1912 by the Skinner Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at Baltimore, Maryland. On 27 April 1917,[3] the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owners, the H. & N.Y. Transportation Company of New York City, for naval use during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Spartan (SP-336) on 22 September 1917.

Assigned to the 3rd Naval District, Spartan spent the next two years on minesweeping duty in the New York City area. On 20 September 1919, she was returned to H. & N.Y. Transportation; her name subsequently was stricken from the Navy List.

As of ca. February 2008, Spartan's hulk was photographed still afloat at Donjon Marine Yard (formally Whitte Brothers Marine Scrap Yard) at Rossville, Staten Island, New York.

Notes

Per Spartan's entry in Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images; her Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships entry says she was acquired in "late summer 1917."
Both the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s16/spartan.htm) and NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170336.htm) give Spartan's speed as 12 miles per hour, an unusual speed measurement for a watercraft. It is possible that her speed was 12 knots, but if it really was 12 miles per hour the equivalent in knots is 10.4.
Per Spartan's entry in Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images; her Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships entry says she was acquired in "late summer 1917."

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Spartan (American Tug, 1912). Served in 1917–1919 as USS Spartan (SP-336)
NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Spartan (SP 336)

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[1] Per Spartan's entry in Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images; her Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships entry says she was acquired in "late summer 1917."

[2] Both the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s16/spartan.htm) and NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170336.htm) give Spartan's speed as 12 miles per hour, an unusual speed measurement for a watercraft. It is possible that her speed was 12 knots, but if it really was 12 miles per hour the equivalent in knots is 10.4.

[3] Per Spartan's entry in Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images; her Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships entry says she was acquired in "late summer 1917."