USS Marpessa (SP-787)

USS Marpessa (SP-787) was a 50 foot (15.24 m) "express yacht" that became a United States Navy section patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919 retaining the civilian name.[1][2][3][note 1]

History
United States
Name: USS Marpessa
Namesake: Previous name retained
Owner: William John Matheson
Builder: Mathis Yacht Building Company, Camden, New Jersey
Yard number: 60
Completed: 1916
Acquired: 18 August 1917
Commissioned: 1 October 1917
Fate: Returned to owner 7 January 1919
Notes: Operated as private motorboat Marpessa 1916-1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type: Section patrol vessel
Tonnage: 17 Gross register tons
Length: 50 ft (15.24 m)
Beam: 10 ft 1 in (3.07 m)
Draft: 3 ft (0.91 m)
Propulsion: Two six cylinder 175 horsepower Van Blercks gasoline engines
Speed: 20 knots
Complement: 11
Armament: 1 × machine gun

Marpessa was designed by T. B. Taylor for William John Matheson of New York built by the Mathis Yacht Building Company at Camden, New Jersey as hull number 60 in 1916 and, upon registration, was assigned official number 214285.[1][2][4] Matheson had an estate at Coconut Grove, Florida and entered Marpessa, powered by two six cylinder 175 horsepower Van Blercks gasoline engines, in racing events, particularly the annual Miami regattas in January involving power boats brought from the north as well as boats based in the Miami area.[1][2][5][6] The boat was badly damaged when a hired captain, over the owner's objection, held course after finding himself inside the buoy and struck a reef off Matinicock point near Oyster Bay.[6]

On 18 August 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was enrolled in the Naval Coast Defense Reserve on 8 September 1917 and commissioned as USS Marpessa (SP-787) on 1 October 1917 with Ensign Hugh M. Matheson, USNRF, in command.[3][7][note 2] By August 1917 three of Matheson's yachts were in government service: Marpessa, Calabash, and Coco.[8]

Assigned to the 7th Naval District and based at Marathon, Florida, Marpessa patrolled the southern Atlantic coast of Florida for the rest of World War I.

Marpessa was returned to Matheson on 7 January 1919.[3]

Footnotes
  1. The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships has a typographical error giving her length as 10 inches (0.25 meter).
  2. DANFS has "Ens. H. W. Mathewson, USNRF, in command", another error for the entry. The only "Mathewson" listed in the 1919 Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Naval Reserve Force and Marine Corps was Commander Rufus W. with "Matheson, Hugh Merrit, Ensign U.S.N.R.F." Listed. Hugh was W. J. Matheson's son.

References
  1. White, Gerald Taylor (April 1920). "The Races at Miami". The Rudder. Vol. 36 no. 4. pp. 5–9, 38–41. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  2. Loweree, H. W. (1 November 1916). "The New Boats of Long Island Sound". Power Boating. Vol. 16 no. 5. p. 17. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  3. Naval History And Heritage Command (9 February 2016). "Marpessa (S. P. 787)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History And Heritage Command. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  4. Colton, Tim (6 June 2018). "Mathis Yacht Building, Camden and Gloucester City NJ". ShipbuildingHistory.
  5. "Fine Racing Outlook at Miami". The Rudder. Vol. 33 no. 1. January 1917. pp. 1–4. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  6. Loweree, H. W. (1 September 1916). "In New York Waters". Power Boating. Vol. 16 no. 3. p. 43. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  7. Navy Department (January 1, 1919). Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Naval Reserve Force and Marine Corps. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 1176. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  8. "Yachts in Government Service". The Rudder. Vol. 33 no. 8. August 1917. p. 558. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
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