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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo #  NH 99153:  Steam Yacht Winchester underway, circa 1907-1916


Online Library of Selected Images:
-- CIVILIAN SHIPS --

Winchester (American Steam Yacht, 1907).
Taken over by the Navy as Adroit (SP-248) in 1917-1918

Winchester, a 147-ton twin-screw steam commuter yacht, was built at City Island, New York, in 1907. The first of a series of fast yachts of that name, her owner replaced her with a larger vessel after several years. Sold to another yachtsman and renamed Adroit in about 1916, she was later inspected by the Navy for possible World War I use, with the unfavorable evaluation "... vessel can perform no naval service commensuret (sic) with estimate value.". However, despite her modest seaworthiness and "very limited steaming radius", Adroit was ordered taken over late in April 1917 under the "Section Patrol" number SP-248. Subsequent experience apparently confirmed the wisdom of the original inspection report, as she never entered active service and was returned to her owner a year later. Her subsequent career as a pleasure craft extended for more than another two decades. She was renamed Aera in 1928 and remained listed in yachting registers until the early 1940s.

This page features the only view we have concerning the yacht Winchester, which was taken over by the Navy as Adroit (SP-248) in 1917-1918.


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 99153

Winchester
(American Steam Yacht, 1907)

Underway, circa 1907-1916.
This fast steam yacht was renamed Adroit in about 1916. Taken over by the Navy in late 1917 and assigned the identification number SP-248, she was soon determined to be unsuitable for Naval service and was returned to her owner in 30 April 1918.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 485 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 14 March 2004