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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 Robert H. McCurdy (ID # 3157), 1918-1919
Originally the civilian schooner Robert H. McCurdy (1903)
Robert H. McCurdy, a 735 gross ton four-masted schooner,
was built at Rockland, Maine, in 1903 for commercial employment.
She was acquired by the Navy in late July 1918 and placed in commission
at that time as USS Robert H. McCurdy (ID # 3157), with
the intention of using her as a "decoy ship" to lure
German U-Boats into torpedo range of accompanying U.S. Navy submarines.
She operated out of Lewes, Delaware, with Submarine Division Eight
during the late summer and fall of 1918. Later in the year she
took part in minefield clearance operations off Atlantic City,
New Jersey. USS Robert H. McCurdy was decommissioned at
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in February 1919 and sold in June
of that year.
This page features all the views we have concerning USS
Robert H. McCurdy (ID # 3157) and the civilian schooner
of that name.
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 102633
USS Robert H. McCurdy (ID # 3157)
Photographed in 1918, probably in late July when she was acquired
for U.S. Navy service as a decoy ship operating in cooperation
with U.S. submarines in an attempt to trap German U-Boats operating
off the Atlantic Coast.
The three-masted schooner at left is almost certainly USS Helvetia
(ID # 3096), which was acquired at the same time, for the same
purpose. The vessel nested between the two appears to be a lightship.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 470 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 46475
USS Robert H. McCurdy (ID # 3157)
In harbor, during World War I.
This four-masted schooner was employed as an anti-submarine "mystery
ship".
In the background are a converted yacht patrol vessel (left)
and a submarine chaser (right).
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 64KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 22
USS Robert H. McCurdy (ID # 3157)
In harbor, circa mid-1918.
This four-masted schooner was employed as an anti-submarine "mystery
ship" during the last months of World War I.
Photographed by A.E. Gaynor.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 520 pixels |
 |
The following photograph shows a four-masted schooner that
is probably USS Robert H. McCurdy:
Photo #: NH 102634
USS Vega (SP-734)
Off Cape May, New Jersey, circa summer or fall 1918.
The four-masted schooner in the right center background is probably
USS Robert H. McCurdy (ID # 3157), a decoy ship intended
to lure German U-Boats within torpedo range of nearby U.S. Navy
submarines.
Collection of Christopher H.W. Lloyd. Donated by Virginia Agostini,
1990.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 64KB; 740 x 440 pixels |
 |
Related photograph: Photo
# NH 102635 shows a bark rigged sailing vessel that is incorrectly
identified as USS Robert H. McCurdy.
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Page made 28 December 2004