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NavSource Online:
Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

USC&GS Natoma
ex-USS Natoma (SP 666)



Navy call sign (1919):
George - Sail - Love - Fox

Call sign (1919):
Nan - Unit - Dog - Cast

Natoma served both the U. S. Navy and the Coast and Geodetic Survey

Motor Yacht:

  • Built in 1913 by Gas Engine and Power Co. and Charles L. Seabury Co. and Sons, Morris Heights, NY
  • Acquired by the Navy 4 July 1917
  • Commissioned 23 August 1917
  • Decommissioned 4 April 1919 and transferred to the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
  • Scrapped in 1935.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 112 t.
  • Length 120'
  • Beam 17' 6"
  • Draft 5' 6"
  • Speed 10 kts.
  • Complement: Nine
  • Armament: One 3-pounder and two .30 cal. machine guns
  • Propulsion: Two 125hp 6-cylinder Speedway gasoline engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Motor Yacht Natoma
    Natoma 56k Historical Collections of the Great Lakes
    Natoma 74k Photographed prior to World War I
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 99980.    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Natoma (SP 666)
    Natoma 127k Hauled out of the water for overhaul, circa 1918
    U.S. Navy photo NH 89747    		 Naval Historical Center
    USC&GS Natoma
    Natoma 64k NOAA Website
    Natoma 125k c. 1928
    NOAA photo    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01Boatswain Prentiss A. Whiting, USNRF1918
    02ENS William H. Reihl, USNRF1918 - 1919
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: Motorboat Natoma was built by Chas. Seabury & Sons, Morris Heights, N.Y.; acquired by the Navy from Richard Howe, New York City 4 July 1917; and commissioned 23 August 1917 to serve on section patrol in the 3rd Naval District during World War I. After the Armistice, Natoma decommissioned and was transferred to the Coast & Geodetic Survey 4 April 1919.
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