USS Despatch (SP-68)
USS Despatch (PY-8), possibly in 1920 or 1921. |
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| Career (United States) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Vixen (10 August 1917-21 August 1917) USS Despatch (from 21 August 1917 |
| Namesake: | Vixen was her previous name retained Despatch, as a verb, is to send off or away, to dispose of speedily, to execute quickly; as a noun, is a message sent with speed. |
| Builder: | Gas Engine and Power Company and Charles L. Seabury Company, Morris Heights, New York |
| Completed: | 1913 |
| Acquired: | 6 August 1917 |
| Commissioned: | 10 August 1917 |
| Recommissioned: | 12 April 1920 |
| Decommissioned: | 15 July 1919 (first time) 9 December 1921 (second and final time) |
| Renamed: | USS Despatch 21 August 1917 (originally was USS Vixen) |
| Reclassified: | Patrol yacht, PY-8, 17 July 1920 |
| Fate: | Transferred to State of Florida 10 May 1928 |
| Notes: | In use as private yacht Vixen 1913-1917 In use by the State of Florida from 1928 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Tender |
| Tonnage: | 287 gross tons |
| Displacement: | 237 tons |
| Length: | 167 ft 9 in (51.13 m) |
| Beam: | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Draft: | 6 ft (1.8 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam engine |
| Speed: | 16 knots |
| Complement: | 49 |
| Armament: | 2 x 3-pounder guns |
The fifth USS Despatch (SP-68), later PY-8, originally USS Vixen (SP-68), was a yacht that served in the United States Navy as a tender from 1917 to 1919 and from 1920 to 1921.
Read more about USS Despatch (SP-68): Construction and Acquisition, First Period in Commission, 1917-1919, Second Period in Commission, 1920-1921, Final Disposition