''Note: This ship should not be confused with USS ''Dawn'' (SP-37), a

yawl A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan), to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put. As a rig, a yawl is a two masted, fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with the mizzen mast p ...

ordered delivered to the United States Navy in 1917 but never commissioned into service.'' The second USS ''Dawn'' (SP-26) was a

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 ...

that served in 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 ...

as a repair boat from 1917 to 1918. ''Dawn'' was built in 1914 by Hehre and Aker at

Clason Point Clason Point is a peninsula in the East Bronx, New York City. The area includes a collection of neighborhoods including Harding Park, and Soundview. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are: Lafayette Avenue to the north, ...

in The

Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state, state of New York (state), New York. It is south of Westchester County, New York, Westchester County; north and east of the ...

, as a private motorboat of the same name. The U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, W. T. Donnelley of

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, on 19 June 1917 for

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 ...

service as a repair boat, deeming her electric-drive propulsion plant suitable for furnishing

electric power Electric power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt, one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with other SI units: thousands, millions and billions o ...

for

lighting Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylig ...

machine shop A machine shop or engineering workshop (UK) is a room, building, or company where machining, a form of subtractive manufacturing, is done. In a machine shop, machinists use machine tools and cutting tools to make parts, usually of metal or plast ...

work, or repairs. She was commissioned as USS ''Dawn'' (SP-26) on 19 June 1917, the day of her acquisition from Donnelley. ''Dawn'' was assigned to the 2nd Naval District. Apparently she did not prove satisfactory in service, for a January 1918 U.S. Navy note commented that the Navy had decided to return her to her owner. The Navy returned ''Dawn'' to Donnelley on 4 April 1918.

References

*
Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: ''Dawn'' (American Motor Boat, 1914). Served as USS ''Dawn'' (SP-26) in 1917-1918
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawn (SP-26) World War I auxiliary ships of the United States Ships built in the Bronx 1914 ships