- USS Otis W. Douglas (SP-313)
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Career (United States) 
Name: USS Otis W. Douglas Namesake: Previous name retained Builder: Jackson and Sharpe, Wilmington, Delaware Completed: 1912 Acquired: 7 April 1917 Commissioned: 10 August 1917 Fate: Foundered, 27 April 1919 Notes: Served as civilian freight boat Otis W. Douglas 1912-1917 General characteristics Type: Minesweeper Displacement: 300 long tons (300 t) Length: 158 ft (48 m) Beam: 24 ft (7.3 m) Draft: 8 ft 9 in (2.67 m) Speed: 12 miles per hour[1] Armament: 2 × 3 in (76 mm) guns, 2 × .30 in (7.6 mm) machine guns USS Otis W. Douglas (SP-313) was a United States Navy minesweeper in commission from 1917-1919.
Otis W. Douglas was built as a commercial motor freight boat in 1912 by Jackson and Sharpe at Wilmington, Delaware. The U.S. Navy purchased her from the Douglas Company of Reedville, Virginia on 7 April 1917 for World War I use. After conversion into a minesweeper, she was commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia on 10 August 1917 as USS Otis W. Douglas (SP-313), with Lieutenant Grant T. Stephansen in command.
Immediately after commissioning, Otis W. Douglas departed Norfolk for Brest, France, where she assumed minesweeping duties around Belle Île and the entrance to Loire River. Her efforts aided in keeping convoy routes clear for the safe passage of troop ships and supply vessels. Continuing these efforts until the spring of 1919, Otis W. Douglas worked until the last mines were destroyed.
Otis W. Douglas departed Brest for the United States with minesweeper Courtney and other vessels on 27 April 1919. Although weather conditions appeared favorable, a storm developed shortly after their departure. The ships headed back toward Brest, but in the heavy seas, Otis W. Douglas began leaking badly and sank — as did Courtney — on 27 April.
Notes
- ^ The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/o4/otis_w_douglas.htm) and NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170313.htm) both give the ship's speed as 12 miles per hour, implying statute miles per hour, an unusual measurement of a watercraft's speed. It is possible that these sources actually mean that the ship' speed was 12 knots. If 12 statute miles per hour is correct, however, the equivalent in knots is 10.4.
References
- This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
Categories:- Minesweepers of the United States Navy
- World War I minesweepers of the United States
- Ships built in Delaware
- 1912 ships
- Maritime incidents in 1919
- Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
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