USS ''Estelle'' (SP-747), later USS ''SP-747'', was a

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 ...

patrol vessel commissioned in 1917 and stricken in 1933. ''Estelle'' was built as a private

motorboat A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gea ...

of the same name. The U.S. Navy acquired her in 1917 for use as a

section patrol A Section Patrol Craft was a civilian vessel registered by the United States Navy for potential wartime service before, during, and shortly after World War I. Historical overview The SP/ID registration system In 1916, with World War I raging a ...

vessel in

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 ...

. She apparently was commissioned that year as USS ''Estelle'' (SP-747). Little information is available regarding ''Estelle''s naval career. Apparently she saw service as a section patrol boat somewhere along the coast of the United States for the rest of World War I. She was renamed USS ''SP-747'' sometime in 1918. On 23 June 1919, a dispatch directed the

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

3rd Naval District The naval district was a U.S. Navy military and administrative command ashore. Apart from Naval District Washington, the Districts were disestablished and renamed Navy Regions about 1999, and are now under Commander, Naval Installations Command ...

, to ship ''SP-747'' and the patrol boat to the Culver Naval School in

Culver, Indiana Culver is a town in Marshall County, Indiana, United States. Culver is part of Union Township, which also includes the communities of Burr Oak, Hibbard, Maxinkuckee and Rutland. The population of Culver was 1,129 at the 2020 United States Censu ...

. Like ''Ahdeek'', she presumably operated there on loan from the Navy for many years, because she was not stricken from the

Navy Directory A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

until sometime in 1933, the same year ''Ahdeek'' was stricken.''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'' at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/a4/ahdeek.htm.

Notes

References

* (for USS ''Ahdeek'')
SP-747 ''Estelle'' at Navy History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships -- Listed by Hull Number: "SP" #s and "ID" #s -- World War I Era Patrol Vessels and other Acquired Ships and Craft numbered from SP-700 through SP-799
Patrol vessels of the United States Navy World War I patrol vessels of the United States {{US-mil-ship-stub