USS Traveler (SP-122)

USS Traveler (SP-122) was an armed motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919.

Not to be confused with USS Traveller (1805).
Traveler as a civilian motorboat prior to her U.S. Navy service.
History
United States
NameUSS Traveler
NamesakePrevious name retained
BuilderMathews Boat Company, Port Clinton, Ohio
Completed1914
Acquired5 May 1917
Commissioned14 July 1917
Stricken4 October 1919
FateWrecked 9 September 1919
NotesOperated as private motorboat Traveler 1914-1917
General characteristics
TypePatrol vessel
Tonnage18 tons
Length50 ft 3 in (15.32 m)
Beam10 ft 8 in (3.25 m)
Draft4 ft 6 in (1.37 m) (aft)
Speed10 miles per hour[1]
Complement6
Armament

Traveler was built as a civilian motorboat in 1914 by the Mathews Boat Company at Port Clinton, Ohio. The U.S. Navy acquired Traveler from her owner, Mr. John D. Meyers of Miami, Florida, on 5 May 1917 for use as a patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned on 14 July 1917 as USS Traveler (SP-122).

Assigned to the 7th Naval District, Traveler was based at Key West, Florida, from which she conducted patrols to protect American coastal trade routes from German submarine and naval mining incursions. Following the Armistice with Germany that ended the war on 11 November 1918, she continued to serve at Key West.

On 9 September 1919, Traveler and seven other section patrol boats anchored in the North Beach Basin at Key West were completely destroyed by a hurricane. The wreckage of the eight boats was hauled out immediately following the storm and burned.

Traveler's name was stricken from the Navy List on 4 October 1919.

Notes
  1. Both the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170122.htm) give the boat's speed in "miles per hour", implying statute miles per hour. This is unusual for a boat or ship, and may be a mistaken reference to 10 knots. However, if the boat's speed really is given correctly in statute miles per hour, the equivalent in knots would be 8.7.

References
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