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

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

USS Gem (SP-41), 1917-1919
Originally, and later, the Civilian Steam Yacht Gem (1913)

USS Gem, a patrol vessel, was built in 1913 by George Lawley & Sons of Neponset, Massachusetts, as the 201 gross ton steam yacht of the same name. She was chartered by the Navy in late March 1917 and placed in commission at the beginning of June. Until mid-December 1917 she was used at New Haven, Connecticut, for harbor entrance patrol service. Gem was then assigned to the Submarine Defense Association for experimental duty in southern New England waters. During the next year she was employed in testing camouflage schemes, submarine detection devices, other types of equipment and specially processed coal fuel. USS Gem was decommissioned in January 1919 and returned to her owner, William Ziegler, Jr., of Noroton, Connecticut.

This page features all the views we have concerning USS Gem (SP-41) and the steam yacht Gem.

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

Photo #: NH 79362 Gem (American Steam Yacht, 1913) Relatively fine-screen halftone reproduction of a photograph taken prior to World War I. This yacht had served as USS Gem (SP-41) during World War I, primarily as a camouflage test ship assigned to the Submarine Defense Association. Figure 29 of "The Science of Low Visibility and Deception as an Aid to the Defense of Vessels Against Attack by Submarines", by Lindell T. Bates, 1918. In 1974 the original volume was in Record Group 45 at the U.S. National Archives. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 600 pixels
Photo #: NH 79363 USS Gem (SP-41) Relatively fine-screen halftone reproduction of a photograph taken during World War I, while she was painted in a camouflage scheme devised by the Submarine Defense Association. Figure 30 of "The Science of Low Visibility and Deception as an Aid to the Defense of Vessels Against Attack by Submarines", by Lindell T. Bates, 1918. In 1974 the original volume was in Record Group 45 at the U.S. National Archives. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 90KB; 740 x 595 pixels
Photo #: NH 75655 Gem (American Steam Yacht, 1913) Relatively coarse-screen halftone reproduction of a photograph taken in the spring of 1919, while she was being refitted at a New York City area shipyard. This yacht had served as USS Gem (SP-41) during World War I. Copied from "The Rudder" magazine, June 1919, page 263. Courtesy of Robert F. Sumrall, 1972. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 98KB; 740 x 415 pixels

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Page made 18 March 2005