USS Wiwoka

USS Wiwoka (SP-250) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.

Wiwoka as a civilian motorboat sometime between 1912 and 1917, prior to her U.S. Navy service as USS Wiwoka.
History
United States
Name	USS Wiwoka
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Murray and Tregurtha, South Boston, Massachusetts
Completed	1912
Acquired	25 July 1917
Commissioned	11 September 1917
Decommissioned	probably December 1918
Stricken	17 January 1919
Fate	Disarmed 18 December 1918 Returned to owner 17 January 1919
Notes	Operated as civilian motorboat Idylease III and Wiwoka 1912-1917 and Wiwoka from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Tonnage	25 tons
Length	62 ft (19 m)
Beam	11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
Draft	4 ft (1.2 m) aft
Speed	10 knots
Complement	10
Armament	1 × 1-pounder gun 1 × machine gun

Wiwoka was built as the civilian motorboat Idylease III in 1912 by Murray and Tregurtha at South Boston, Massachusetts. Idylease III had been renamed Wiwoka by the time the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, Mr. Joseph V. Gallagher of New York City, on 25 July 1917 for World War I service as a patrol vessel. She was commissioned as USS Wiwoka (SP-250) on 11 September 1917.

Wiwoka performed section patrol duty in the New York City area for the remainder of World War I.

Hostilities ceased on 11 November 1918, and Wiwoka was decommissioned shortly thereafter—probably in December 1918, because her armament was removed on 18 December 1918. She was returned to Gallagher on 17 January 1919, and her name was stricken from the Navy Directory that same day.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Department of the Navy: Navy History and Heritage Command: Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Wiwoka (American Motor Boat, 1912). Previously named Idylease III. Served as USS Wiwoka (SP-250) in 1917–1919
• Photo gallery of USS Wiwoka at NavSource Naval History