USS Helianthus
{{short description|Patrol vessel of the United States Navy}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=USC&GS Helianthus.jpg |Ship caption=USC&GS Helianthus in northern waters, outfitted with an antenna wire for radio acoustic ranging operations }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States Navy |Ship flag={{USN flag|1917}} |Ship name=Helianthus |Ship namesake=Helianthus, the genus to which sunflowers belong (previous name retained) |Ship owner= |Ship operator= |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Bristol, Rhode Island |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number=288 |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=17 June 1912 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed=1912 |Ship acquired=by Navy: 11 June 1917 |Ship commissioned=6 July 1917 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification=*As yacht
|Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Transferred to United States Coast and Geodetic Survey 28 March 1919 |Ship notes=In use as private motorboat Helianthus 1912–1917 |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey |Ship flag={{USN flag|1919}} 60 px |Ship name=USC&GS Helianthus |Ship namesake=Previous name retained |Ship acquired=28 March 1919 |Ship commissioned=1919 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned=1939 |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=Sold 1939 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption=(as yacht 1913) |Ship class= |Ship type= |Ship tonnage={{GRT|35}} |Ship length={{convert|60.5|ft|m|abbr=on}} registered |Ship beam={{convert|12.73|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draft= |Ship depth={{convert|6.7|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=Gasoline engine, 50 indicated hp |Ship crew=3 excluding master |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption=(as U.S. Navy vessel) |Ship class= |Ship type=Patrol vessel |Ship tonnage= |Ship displacement=37 tons |Ship length={{convert|64|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|13|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship draft={{convert|3|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=Gasoline engine |Ship sail plan= |Ship speed=10 knots |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= |Ship troops= |Ship complement= |Ship crew= |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=1 × 1-pounder gun |Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption=(as U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey vessel) |Ship class= |Ship tonnage= |Ship displacement= |Ship length={{convert|64|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|13|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship draft={{convert|4|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion= |Ship sail plan= |Ship speed= |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= |Ship troops= |Ship complement= |Ship crew= |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament= |Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} |
USS Helianthus (SP-585) was a patrol vessel in commission in the United States Navy from 1917 to 1919, seeing service in World War I. After her U.S. Navy service, she was in commission in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey as the survey launch USC&GS Helianthus from 1919 to 1939. She was named after the Helianthus, the genus to which the sunflower belongs.Sunset Western Garden Book. Leisure Arts. 1995. pp. 606–607.
Construction
Helianthus was designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff and built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company as a power yacht at Bristol, Rhode Island.{{cite web|title=Helianthus (S. P. 585)|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/helianthus.html|website=www.history.navy.mil|access-date=6 November 2016}} Helianthus, yard number 288, official number 210121, was launched on 17 June 1912.{{cite web |last=van der Linde |first=Claas |title=HMCo #288p Helianthus I |publisher=The Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné |year=2019 |url=http://www.herreshoff.info/Menu/index.htm?/Docs/P00288_Helianthus_I.htm |access-date=16 August 2019}}{{cite web |last=Colton |first=Tim |title=Herreshoff Manufacturing, Bristol RI |publisher=ShipbuildingHistory |date=December 18, 2015 |url=http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/yachtsmall/herreshoff1.htm |access-date=16 August 2019}} Registry information for 1913 shows the yacht with home port of Bristol, gasoline powered at 50 indicated horsepower, with signal letters LCKT, {{GRT|35}}, {{cvt|60.5|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} registered length, {{cvt|12.7|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} breadth, {{cvt|6.7|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} depth with a crew, excluding master, of three.{{cite book |year=1913 |title=Forty-Fifth Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States, Year ended June 30, 1913 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of Navigation |page=194 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gdxLAQAAMAAJ&q=Helianthus%20%20%22210121%22&pg=PA194 |access-date=17 August 2019}} The yacht was powered by a Sterling Model B, 6 cylinder, 75 horsepower gasoline engine with a {{cvt|37|in|m|2|abbr=on}}, three bladed propeller.
United States Navy service, 1917–1919
File:USC&GS Helianthus ca. 1925.jpgn waters, ca. 1925. She flies the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey flag from her mast and the national ensign at her stern.]]
The U.S. Navy acquired Helianthus from her owner, N. A. Herreshoff, on 11 June 1917 for World War I service as a patrol vessel and commissioned her on 6 July 1917 as USS Helianthus (SP-585).
Helianthus was assigned to section patrol duty in the 2nd Naval District in southern New England during World War I. She operated on harbor patrol and harbor entrance patrol in Narragansett Bay and at Newport, Rhode Island.
Helianthus collided with the fishing vessel T.H.C. on 12 June 1918 off Warren, Rhode Island. The owner of T.H.C., the Warren Oyster Company, filed for $3,840.56 in damages, but was granted only $50.00 in compensation by the United States Congress.{{cite book|title=Congressional Edition, Volume 7645|date=1919|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|location=University of California}}A message was sent to the United States House of Representatives saying:
{{Blockquote|text=SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, in accordance with the provisions of the act of June 24, 1910 (Stat., p. 607), a communication from the acting secretary of the Navy of the 20th instant, submitting an estimate of appropriation, in the sum of $3,840.56, to pay for claims of damages by naval vessels adjusted by the Navy Department.|author=Carter Glass|source=Congressional Edition Volume 7645}}
The Speaker of the House of Representatives responded, writing:
{{Blockquote|text=SIR: This department has considered, ascertained, adjusted, and determined the respective amounts due to claimants on account of damages for which vessels of the United States Navy were found to be responsible in the following described instances:
- 1. The owner of the boat T. H. C. for damages sustained by said boat as a result of a collision with the U. S. S. Helianthus S. P. 585, at Warren, R.I. on June 12, 1918, $50. The correspondence in the department indicates that the owner of the boat T. H. C. is the Warren Oyster Co. of Warren R. I.|author=Frederick H. Gillett|source=Congressional Edition Volume 7645}}
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey service, 1919–1939
The U.S. Navy transferred Helianthus to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey on 28 March 1919.{{cite book|last1=Silverstone|first1=Paul|title=The New Navy, 1883–1922|date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781135865436|page=217}} Commissioned as USC&GS Helianthus, she served as a survey launch during her years with the Coast and Geodetic Survey, conducting hydrographic survey work primarily in the waters of the Territory of Alaska.{{cite web|title=NOAA History – Tools of the Trade/Ships/C&GS Ships/HELIANTHUS|url=http://www.history.noaa.gov/ships/helianthus.html|website=www.history.noaa.gov|access-date=6 November 2016}}
After undergoing repairs, Helianthus began survey operations. Her first survey season was in 1920, during which she served along with another former U.S. Navy section patrol boat, USC&GS Scandinavia, and a {{convert|30|ft|m|1|adj=on}} launch as a tender to the survey ship USC&GS Explorer in triangulation, topographic and hydrographic surveys in Stephens Passage in the Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska.{{cite report |title=Annual Report Of the Director, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year Ended |year=1920 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |page=95}}
The Coast and Geodetic Survey sold Helianthus in 1939, and her subsequent fate is unknown.{{cite web|title=Helianthus (SP 585)|url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170585.htm|website=www.navsource.org|access-date=6 November 2016}} The Survey replaced her in 1940 with the survey vessel USC&GS Lester Jones (ASV-79).{{cite journal |title=The Motor Vessel E. Lester Jones |journal=Field Engineers Bulletin |date=December 1939|issue=12 |pages=40–41 |publisher=United States Coast and Geodetic Survey |url=http://thsoa.org/resources/Website/Education/References/cgs_afe_12.pdf |access-date=16 August 2019}}
Notes
{{Reflist|group=note}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.herreshoff.info/Images_Vessels/P00288_Helianthus_I_AMH_a.jpg Helianthus July 8, 1914. Off Newport during Trial of Cup Defenders.] (Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection)
- [http://www.herreshoff.info/Images_Vessels/P00288_Helianthus_I.jpg Helianthus I ca. 1915.] (Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection)
- [http://www.herreshoff.info/Images_Vessels/P00288_Helianthus_I_Construction_Plan.jpg Construction plan] (Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection)
- {{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/helianthus.html}}
- [http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170585.htm NavSource Online: Patrol Yacht Photo Archive: USC&GS Helianthus ex-USS (SP 585)]
- [http://www.history.noaa.gov/ships/helianthus.html NOAA History, A Science Odyssey: Tools of the Trade: Ships: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships: Helianthus]
{{June 1918 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helianthus (SP-585)}}
Category:Patrol vessels of the United States Navy
Category:World War I patrol vessels of the United States
Category:Ships of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
Category:Survey ships of the United States