USS ''SC-37'', until July 1920 known as USS ''Submarine Chaser No. 37'' or USS ''S.C. 37'', was an ''SC-1''-class

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...

built for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. ''SC-37'' was a wooden-

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110-foot (34 m) submarine chaser built at the

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. She was commissioned on 1 February 1918 as USS ''Submarine Chaser No. 37'', abbreviated at the time as USS ''S.C. 37''. In 1919, ''Submarine Chaser No. 37'' participated in

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that ...

operations to clear the

North Sea Mine Barrage The North Sea Mine Barrage, also known as the Northern Barrage, was a large minefield laid easterly from the Orkney Islands to Norway by the United States Navy (assisted by the Royal Navy) during World War I. The objective was to inhibit the m ...

. When the U.S. Navy adopted its modern

hull number Hull number is a serial identification number given to a boat or ship. For the military, a lower number implies an older vessel. For civilian use, the HIN is used to trace the boat's history. The precise usage varies by country and type. United S ...

system on 17 July 1920, ''Submarine Chaser No. 37'' was classified as SC-37 and her name was shortened to USS ''SC-37''. On 24 June 1921, the Navy sold ''SC-37'' to Joseph G. Hitner of

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References

*
NavSource Online: Submarine Chaser Photo Archive: SC-37

The Subchaser Archives: The History of U.S. Submarine Chasers in the Great War Hull number: SC-37
* Woofenden, Todd A. ''Hunters of the Steel Sharks: The Submarine Chasers of World War I''. Bowdoinham, Maine: Signal Light Books, 2006. . SC-1-class submarine chasers World War I patrol vessels of the United States Ships built in Brooklyn 1918 ships {{US-mil-ship-stub