USS ''Herreshoff No. 308'' (SP-2232), also written ''Herreshoff #308'', was a

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patrol vessel in commission from 1918 to 1923.

Construction, acquisition, and commissioning

At the suggestion of

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(and future

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)

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

(1882–1945), R. E. Tod of

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, seeking a way to contribute to the U.S. war effort 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 ...

, contracted with the

Herreshoff Manufacturing Company Nathanael Greene Herreshoff (March 18, 1848 – June 2, 1938) was an American naval architect, mechanical engineer, and yacht design innovator. He produced a succession of undefeated America's Cup defenders between 1893 and 1920. Biography Her ...

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, for one of a small group of 60-

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- hulled

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-powered boats built to a naval patrol boat design for private owners with the intention that they would be made available to the U.S. Navy in time of war. Tods boat, with the builders name ''Herreshoff No. 308'', was completed in 1917. On 21 February 1918, the U.S. Navy acquired ''Herreshoff No. 308'' from Tod for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned at

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, Rhode Island, as USS ''Herreshoff No. 308'' (SP-2232) on 23 February 1918.

Operational history

After spending a short time at New London,

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, fitting out with

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, ''Herreshoff No. 308'' departed New London on 5 May 1918 in company with the patrol boats and bound for the

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, stopping at

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;

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; and Guantanamo Bay,

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, en route. She arrived at

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in the Canal Zone on 1 June 1918. For the next two years she served on patrol duty in the Canal Zone at Cristóbal and Balboa. ''Herreshoff No. 308'' was loaned to the

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on 14 October 1920 for use by the Governor of the Panama Canal Zone. The Canal Zone government used her as a patrol craft.

Disposal

Returned to the Navy in September 1923, ''Herreshoff No. 308'' was stricken from the

Navy List 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 ...

on 12 September 1923. She was sold to J. A. Kenney of

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, on 27 May 1924.

Notes

References

*
SP-2232: ''Herreshoff 308'' at Department of the Navy Naval 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 ID # 2200 through ID # 2299
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herreshoff No. 308 (SP-2232) Patrol vessels of the United States Navy World War I patrol vessels of the United States Ships built in Bristol, Rhode Island 1917 ships