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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
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WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 57015:  USS Alcedo off New York City, August 1917

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Alcedo (SP-166), 1917-1917.
Previously the Civilian Yacht Alcedo (1895)

Alcedo, a 981 gross ton steam yacht built in 1895 at Glasgow, Scotland, was purchased by the U.S. Navy in June 1917 and placed in commission as USS Alcedo (SP-166) late in July. She crossed the Atlantic the next month to join the patrol forces fighting enemy U-boats in the waters off western Europe. In the early hours of 5 November 1917, while she was escorting a convoy en route to Brest, France, Alcedo was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine UC-71. Twenty-one of her crew were lost with their ship.

This page features all the views we have concerning USS Alcedo (SP-166) and the civilian yacht Alcedo.


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 99163

Alcedo
(American Steam Yacht, 1895)

Anchored in Yokohama Harbor, Japan, prior to World War I.
The Navy purchased this yacht for World War I service, placing her in commission as USS Alcedo (SP-166) in July 1917. She was torpedoed and sunk on 5 November 1917.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 475 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 57015

USS Alcedo (SP-166)


Off New York City, August 1917.
Probably photographed by Edwin Levick.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 66KB; 740 x 520 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 57785

USS Alcedo (SP-166)


Photographed by Edwin Levick, while off New York City in August 1917.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 77KB; 575 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 105719

USS Alcedo
(SP-166)

Underway, circa late Summer or Autumn 1917.
The original image is printed on post card ("AZO") stock.
This converted yacht was torpedoed and sunk off western France on 5 November 1917.

Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2008.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 470 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 41743

USS Alcedo
(SP-166)

Picking up survivors in 1917.
This photograph was probably taken on 17 October 1917, when Alcedo rescued survivors of the steamer Antilles, or on 28 October 1917, when she picked up men who had left the torpedoed transport Finland.
Alcedo was herself torpedoed and sunk on 5 November 1917.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 445 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 41745

USS Alcedo
(SP-166), left center, and
USS Wakiva II (SP-160), at right

Picking up survivors in 1917.
This photograph was probably taken on 28 October 1917, when these two converted yachts picked up men who had left the torpedoed transport Finland. The two-stacked ship in the center distance, beyond Alcedo's bow, appears to have four masts and is probably Finland, which survived the incident and later served as USS Finland (ID # 4543).
USS Alcedo was torpedoed and sunk on 5 November 1917.

Courtesy of Mr. W.D. Porter, November 1937.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 43KB; 740 x 460 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 8 September 2002
New image added 8 May 2008