STEAM YACHT USS VEDETTE U S NAVAL FORCES EUROPE - GREAT STORY - AUG 1918

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Steam Yacht USS VEDETTE anchor censor and Free Franking August 8, 1918. Please note DANFS story that follows, one of the best in World War I. Please see scan(s). DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARDWASHINGTON DC 20374-5060 Vedette I (ScStr.: t. 441; 1. 199'6"; b. 26'0"; dr. 12'0"; cpl. 61; a. 3 3", 2 Coltmg.; 10 mines) Virginia —a steel-hulled, single-screw steam yacht designed by G. L. Watson and built at Bath, Maine, by Bath Iron Works for New York merchant Isaac Stern —was delivered on 23 December 1899. In 1916, the yacht was acquired by the financier and philanthropist Frederick W. Vanderbilt of New York City and re named Vedette. The Navy acquired the ship from him on a free-lease basis on 4 May 1917. Earmarked for convoy escort and patrol duty overseas, Vedette was classified SP-163 and was commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 28 May 1917, Lt. Comdr. Chester L. Hand in command. Vedette and five other former yachts got underway from Tompkinsville, N.Y., bound for Bermuda on 9 June on the first leg of their voyage to France. Sul tana (SP-134) and Christabel (SP-162) were the first to weigh anchor; Harvard (SP-209), Kanawha (SP- 130), Noma (SP-131), and Vedette followed. The ships formed up into divisions, with Vedette leading the second group. On the evening of the 12th, they anchored in St. George harbor and remained in Bermuda for a little over three days, coaling ship and taking on water. The vessels got underway again on the morning of the 16th and reached the Azores on the 25th. After coaling and taking on water and provisions, Vedette and her consorts began their passage to Brest. En route, they soon encountered abundant evidence that they were entering a war zone. Vedette spotted "considerable floating wreckage and a cork life belt" upon which no name was visible on the evening of the 2d. The next morning, she spotted more of the same: boxes, barrels, a broken life-belt, and pieces of planking from an anonymous ship—or ships—mute evidence of a sinking. The squadron sighted the French coast at 0440 on 4 July; but, before they could make it into port, Christabel broke down; and Vedette stood by until her damaged consort could get underway again. Later, as the ships made their way toward Brest, a French torpedo boat came out and greeted the American force that was among the first ships of the United States Navy to reach French waters in World War I. Over the next 10 days, Vedette prepared for the operations that lay ahead. She finally put to sea, in company with Harvard, on the morning of 16 July. Her first patrol pretty much set the standard theme for the many that followed. The two ships initially headed for the middle of the patrol line 10 miles off the coast, extending from the northward and westward of Ushant to the southward of Belle Isle. Vedette patrolled the southern half of the line while Harvard prowled the northern. Vedette returned to Brest on the 19th, without having met the enemy, but she did en counter more wreckage, including life rings from an unidentified ship. She twice more patrolled the area between Brest and Ushant, -near Belle Isle, before the end of July. Vedette remained in port the first few days of August, and she suffered slight damage on the morning of 3 August when Christabel —while shifting moorings— raked her stern, carrying away the flagstaff and damag ing the after rail. Nevertheless, Vedette stood out to sea at 1700 that afternoon in the screen of an outward- bound convoy of 10 merchantmen which were also pro tected by Harvard, three French patrol vessels, and two British ships. Vedette left that convoy at 0050 on the 4th and patrolled the vicinity until 0650, when she picked up a Brest-bound convoy of 19 merchantmen escorted by three patrol boats. Vedette anchored at Brest at 1025 the same day, but her respite was short. Less than six hours later, she stood out with a convoy of 16 merchantmen, three French patrol boa... read more

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