USS Cossack (SP-695)

The second USS Cossack (SP-695) was an armed motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Cossack.

USS Cossack in 1919 after post-World War I removal of her armament.
History
United States
Name: USS Cossack
Namesake: A Cossack, a member of militaristic communities living in Ukraine and southern Russia (previous name retained)
Builder: George Lawley & Son, Neponset, Massachusetts
Completed: 1916
Acquired: April 1917
Commissioned: 1 May 1917
Stricken: 27 March 1919
Fate: Transferred to U.S. Coast Guard 22 November 1919
Notes:
  • Operated as civilian motorboat Cossack 1916-1917
  • In U.S. Coast Guard service as USCGC Cossack 1919-1923 and as USCGC AB-3 1923-1925; destroyed by fire 9 May 1925
General characteristics
Type: Patrol vessel
Length: 64 ft (20 m)
Speed: 23 miles per hour[1]

Construction, acquisition, and commissioning
Cossack as civilian motorboat in 1916 or 1917, prior to her acquisition by the U.S. Navy.

Cossack was built as a civilian motorboat of the same name in 1916 by George Lawley & Son of Neponset, Massachusetts. Upon the entry of the United States into World War I, the U.S. Navy acquired her in April 1917 for war service as a patrol boat. She was commissioned as USS Cossack (SP-695) at Boston on 1 May 1917.

Service history

World War I

Assigned to the 1st Naval District, Cossack conducted patrols in the Boston, Massachusetts, until October 1918.

USS Cossack underway ca. summer 1917, probably off Boston, Massachusetts.

Due to an urgent need for craft such as Cossack at Brest, France, an order dated 14 October 1918 went out from Washington, D.C., to Boston, directing the Commandant of the 1st Naval District to ready six section patrol boats -- USS Commodore (SP-1425), Cossack, USS War Bug (SP-1795), USS Sea Hawk (SP-2365), USS Kangaroo (SP-1284), and USS SP-729—to be shipped to France as deck cargo along with spare parts to keep them operational. However, this proposed movement appears to have been cancelled, probably because of the armistice with Germany of 11 November 1918 that ended World War I and eliminated the need for more U.S. Navy patrol craft in Europe.

Instead, Cossack was reassigned to the 3rd Naval District in October 1918, probably for patrol service in the New York City area.

Decommissioning and disposal

Cossack was stricken from the Navy List on 27 March 1919. She was turned over to the United States Coast Guard on 22 November 1919.

United States Coast Guard service

As USCGC Cossack, she was stationed at Tampa, Florida. Renamed USCGC AB-3 in November 1923, she was destroyed by fire on 9 May 1925.

Notes
  1. Sources (see the Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images at http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-c/sp695.htm and NavSource Online at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170695.htm) cite a speed of 23 "miles per hour", implying a speed in statute miles per hour, which is very unusual for a watercraft. It is possible that her speed was 23 knots; if her speed actually was 23 statute miles per hour, the equivalent in knots is 20.

References
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