USS ''Galatea'' (SP-714/YP-714) was a steam yacht acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was outfitted as an armed patrol craft and served in the North Atlantic Ocean. At war's end she was used as a

receiving ship A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Hulk may be used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, an abandoned wreck or shell, or to refer to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipmen ...

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...

, for submariners before being sold in 1921.

A yacht built in Wilmington, Delaware

The second ship to be so named by the U.S. Navy, ''Galatea'' was a fresh water yacht built in 1914 by

Pusey and Jones The Pusey and Jones Corporation was a major shipbuilder and industrial-equipment manufacturer. Based in Wilmington, Delaware, it operated from 1848 to 1959. Shipbuilding was its primary focus from 1853 until the end of World War II, when the comp ...

of Wilmington, Delaware; purchased by the Navy 14 July 1917 at Detroit, Michigan, from E. L. Ford, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, and commissioned at Detroit 25 August 1917.

World War I service

''Galatea'' departed Detroit 25 August 1917 for the Boston Navy Yard where she decommissioned 26 September for conversion to an armed patrol craft. She recommissioned 16 November 1917. Next proceeding to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she sailed from there for the Azores 15 December 1917 with French ''Submarine Chaser 314'' in tow. Proceeding by way of Bermuda, ''Galatea'' arrived Ponta Delgada, Azores, 22 January 1918, racked and strained by the towing of the submarine chaser. Damage required repairs until May 1919 when she began service as an interisland transport in the Azores. She carried the American Consul from Ponta Delgada for official calls on the governors of

Horta Horta may refer to: People * Horta (surname), a list of people Places * Horta, Africa, an ancient city and former bishopric in Africa Proconsularis, now in Tunisia and a Latin Catholic titular see * Horta, Azores, Portugal, a municipality an ...

Fayal Faial Island (), also known in English as Fayal, is a Portuguese island of the Central Group (Portuguese: ''Grupo Central'') of the Azores. The Capelinhos Volcano, the westernmost point of the island, may be considered the westernmost point of E ...

and Angra, Terceira, returning to her base in time to honor Navy Seaplane ''NC-3'' on 19 May, and Navy Seaplane ''NC-4'' on 20 May, as they arrived in Ponta Delgada on the historic first transoceanic flight.

Decommissioning and disposal

''Galatea'' departed Ponta Delgada 7 June 1919 for Boston, Massachusetts, where she decommissioned 15 July. The following year she was towed to the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, to serve as

for

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

crews. She was sold at

, 20 December 1921 to Captain A. A. Tanos of New York City.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Galatea World War I patrol vessels of the United States Steam yachts Ships built by Pusey and Jones 1914 ships