USS Gem
{{short description|Steam yacht and US Navy patrol vessel}}
{{For|the United States Navy bark of 1861–1865|USS Gem of the Sea}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= USS Gem (SP-41).jpg |Ship caption=USS Gem in World War I }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{USN flag|1917}} |Ship name=USS Gem |Ship namesake=Previous name retained |Ship owner= |Ship operator= |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=George Lawley & Son, Neponset, MA |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed=1913 |Ship acquired=26 March 1917 |Ship commissioned=1 June 1917 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned=10 January 1919 |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Returned to owner 10 January 1919 |Ship notes=Operated as private steam yacht Gem 1913–1917 and from 1919 |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type= Patrol vessel |Ship tonnage= {{GRT|201}}, {{NRT|113}} |Ship displacement= |Ship length= {{cvt|149.2|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{cvt|18.0|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draft= {{cvt|7|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= {{cvt|10.1|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship power= 32 NHP |Ship propulsion= *2 × 4-cylinder triple-expansion engines
|Ship sail plan= |Ship speed= {{convert|15|kn|km/h}} |Ship range= |Ship boats= |Ship complement= |Ship crew= |Ship sensors= |Ship armament=2 × 3-pounder guns |Ship armor= |Ship notes= }} |
USS Gem (SP-41) was an armed yacht that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919.
Gem was built in 1913 as a private steam-powered yacht of the same name by George Lawley & Son at Neponset, Massachusetts. The US Navy acquired her under charter from her owner, William Ziegler Jr., on 26 March 1917 for World War I service. She was commissioned as USS Gem (SP-41) on 1 June 1917 at New York City.
Gem performed harbor entrance patrol at New Haven, Connecticut, until 12 December 1917. She was then assigned to experimental work under the Submarine Defense Association. In this duty, carried out at New York City; New London, Connecticut; Newport, Rhode Island; and New Haven, she experimented with camouflage defense, tested the Bates Automatic Course Indicator, and experimented with various submarine detection devices, including the Sanborn Speed Indicator. She also performed colloidal fuel experiments with pulverized coal at New Haven and New York.
The Navy decommissioned Gem on 10 January 1919 and returned her to her owner the same day.
References
- {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/g2/gem.htm}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050405120053/http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-g/sp41.htm Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Gem (SP-41), 1917–1919. Originally, and later, the Civilian Steam Yacht Gem (1913)]
- [http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170041.htm NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Gem (SP 41)]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gem (SP-41)}}
Category:Patrol vessels of the United States Navy
Category:World War I patrol vessels of the United States