USS Fulton (SP-247)
{{short description|Minesweeper of the United States Navy}}
{{other ships|USS Fulton}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Fulton 1909 aka USS Fulton (SP-247).jpg |Ship caption= Lackawanna Railroad tugboat Fulton }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{USN flag|1917}} |Ship name=USS Fulton |Ship namesake=Robert Fulton |Ship owner= |Ship operator= |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Staten Island Shipbuilding Company, Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed=1909 |Ship acquired=30 April 1917 |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship recommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed=USS SP-247 11 April 1918 |Ship reclassified= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Returned to owner 12 August 1919 |Ship notes=Operated as civilian vessel Fulton 1909-1917 and from 1919 |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type=Minesweeper / tugboat |Ship tonnage={{GRT|229}}, {{NRT|156}} |Ship displacement= |Ship length={{Convert|93.5|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{Convert|25.2|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship draft={{Convert|11.0|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship depth={{Convert|12.1|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship power={{convert|850|ihp|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion=Single compound steam engine, one shaft |Ship sail plan= |Ship speed= |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= |Ship troops= |Ship complement=*7
|Ship crew= |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=single 1-pounder gun |Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes=steel hull }} |
The fourth USS Fulton (SP-247), later USS SP-247, was a commercial tug built in 1909.{{refn|This Fulton should not be confused with the submarine tender {{USS|Fulton|AS-1}}, which was in commission at the same time.|group=Note}} She was commissioned by the United States Navy and served as a minesweeper in 1917 in the Third Naval District and returned to her previous owners two years later. She remained in service, latterly as Catherine Carroll, at least into the 1960s.
Construction and commercial service
Fulton was built as a steel-hulled tug in 1909 by the Staten Island Shipbuilding Company at Port Richmond on Staten Island, New York as Yard Number 489.{{cite web |title=Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island NY |url=http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/bethstatenisland.htm |website=shipbuildinghistory.com |access-date=20 August 2018}} The tug had a length of {{Convert|93.5|ft|m|abbr=on}}, a beam of {{Convert|25.2|ft|m|abbr=on}}, a depth of {{Convert|12.1|ft|m|abbr=on}} and a draft of {{Convert|11.0|ft|m|abbr=on}}. She measured {{GRT|229}} and {{NRT|156}} and was powered by a compound steam engine of {{convert|850|ihp|abbr=on}} driving a single propeller.{{cite book |title=Merchant Vessels of the United States |date=1914 |publisher=US Bureau of Customs |location=Washington DC |page=176 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6wtBAQAAMAAJ&q=fulton |access-date=21 August 2018}}{{cite book |title=Record |date=1933 |publisher=American Bureau of Shipping |page=183 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=APQjAQAAMAAJ&q=%22fulton%22 |access-date=21 August 2018}}
The tug was built for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Co. to tow barges carrying rail cars. She was registered at New York, with US Official Number 207060 and call-sign LBHQ. The vessel was named after Robert Fulton who was honored in New York City's Hudson–Fulton Celebration in 1909 on the centenary of his development of practical steamship technology.
World War I service
The U.S. Navy acquired her under charter on 30 April 1917 for service as a Section mine sweeper.{{cite book |last=Construction & Repair Bureau (Navy) |title=Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels |date=November 1, 1918 | location=Washington D.C. |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |pages=308–313 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P0ZHAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA308 }} After arming with a single 1-pounder gun, she was commissioned as USS Fulton (SP-247) on 22 September with two officers and sixteen men assigned to the Third Naval District.{{cite book |last=Historical Section, Navy Department |year=1920 |title=German Submarine Activities on the Atlantic Coast of the United States and Canada |location=Washington, D.C. |page=135 |url=https://fas.org/man/eprint/german-subs.pdf |access-date=5 October 2018}} On 11 April 1918 her official name was reduced to SP-247.{{cite web |title=SP-247 |url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170247.htm |website=NavSource Online |publisher=NavSource Naval History |access-date=21 August 2018}}
The Navy returned Fulton to her previous owner on 12 August 1919.
Return to commercial service
In 1919 Fulton resumed service with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.{{cite book |title=Merchant Vessels of the United States |date=1920 |publisher=US Bureau of Customs |location=Washington DC |page=47 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NwlBAQAAMAAJ&q=%22fulton%22+%22207060%22 |access-date=21 August 2018}} By 1958 she had been sold to Tug Fulton Corp., New York and renamed Catherine Carroll.{{cite book |title=Merchant Vessels of the United States |date=1958 |publisher=US Coast Guard |location=Washington DC |pages=106, 716 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bMsjAQAAIAAJ&q=%22207060%22&pg=PA995 |access-date=21 August 2018}} The tug continued in service until at least 1964.{{cite book |title=Merchant Vessels of the United States |date=1964 |publisher=US Coast Guard |location=Washington DC |page=810 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CEGl8Wy1lO4C&q=%22catherine+carroll%22+207060 |access-date=21 August 2018}}
Notes
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References
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External links
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20180821133518/http://www.brooklynpix.com/photoframex1.php?photo=/pc/ArchitecturalF207.jpg Photo of tug Fulton with railcar barge]}} under the Brooklyn Bridge, East River, New York Harbor - ca. 1952
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Category:Minesweepers of the United States Navy
Category:World War I minesweepers of the United States