USS Absegami

Absegami (U.S. Motor Boat, 1916) photographed circa 1916-1917.
History
USA
Name	USS Absegami
Namesake	Name retained by the Navy
Owner	Allen K. White, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Builder	New York Yacht, Launch & Engine Company, New York City
Laid down	date unknown
Launched	date unknown
Christened	as civilian motor boat Absegami
Completed	1916 at New York City
Acquired	officially leased (free lease) by the Navy 2 May 1917
Commissioned	30 April 1917 as USS Absegami (SP-371) at the Philadelphia Navy Yard
Decommissioned	2 December 1918
Stricken	December 1918 (est.)
Homeport	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Cape May, New Jersey
Fate	returned to her owner, 6 December 1918
General characteristics
Type	Motorboat
Displacement	not known
Length	75’
Propulsion	Gasoline engine
Speed	13 knots
Complement	not known
Armament	One 1-pounder gun One AA machine gun

USS Absegami (SP-371) was a motorboat acquired on a free lease by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was outfitted as an armed patrol craft and assigned to patrol the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Cape May, New Jersey on the Delaware Bay. When the Navy found her excess to needs, she was returned to her former owner.

Built in New York

Absegami (SP-371) was a motor boat built in 1916 at New York City by the New York Yacht, Launch & Engine Co.; acquired by the Navy on free lease from her owner, Allen K. White, Atlantic City, New Jersey, on 2 May 1917; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 30 April 1917, Ensign W. G. Morse in command.

World War I service

Following her commissioning, Absegami was assigned to section patrol duty in the 4th Naval District. Throughout World War I, the boat patrolled the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean waters off Cape May, New Jersey.

Decommissioning

Absegami was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 2 December 1918 and returned to her owner four days later.

See also

• U.S. Navy
• World War I

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• USS Absegami (SP-371), 1917-1918. Originally the Civilian Motor Boat Absegami