USS Hiawatha (SP-183)
Introduction The first '''USS ''Hiawatha'' (SP-183)''' was an armed yacht that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1920. ''Hiawatha'' was built as the civilian steam yacht ''Donaire'' in 1914 by George Lawley & Son of Neponset, Massachusetts. The U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, A. W. Stanley of Miami, Florida, for World War I service as a patrol vessel. She was commissioned as USS ''Hiawatha'' (SP-183) at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia, on 10 May 1917.Assigned to the 5th Naval District, ''Hiawatha'' operated in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and vicinity as a patrol craft and dispatch boat during World War I. From August to December 1918, she was one of two U.S. Navy ships in service simultaneously as USS ''Hiawatha'', the other being the tug USS ''Hiawatha'' (ID-2892).After the war, ''Hiawatha'' remained inactive at Norfolk, Virginia, until loaned to the Maryland State Conservation Commission on 11 December 1919.She was returned to the U.S. Navy on 16 March 1920.On 1 October 1920, the Navy sold ''Hiawatha'' to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which took her to the Territory of Alaska for use in the administration of National Forests there by the United States Forest Service.
References ** Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS ''Hiawatha'' (SP-183), 1917-1920* NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Hiawatha (SP 183)