.jpg) USSCalypso (SP-632) tied up in an icy harbor sometime between 1917 and 1919. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Calypso |
| Namesake | Calypso, inGreek mythology, anymph who lived on the island ofOgygia, where, according to theOdyssey, she detainedOdysseus for seven years |
| Owner | A. L. Mason,Westfield, New Jersey (1917) |
| Builder | New York Yacht, Launch & Engine Company,Morris Heights, Bronx, New York |
| Completed | 1909 |
| Fate | Sold toU.S. Navy June 1917 |
| United States Navy | |
| Name | USSCalypso |
| Namesake | Previous name retained |
| Acquired | June 1917 |
| Commissioned | July 1917 |
| Fate | Transferred toU.S. Bureau of Fisheries 9 September 1919 |
 U.S. Bureau of Fisheries | |
| Name | USFSMerganser |
| Namesake | Merganser, a fish-eatingduck of thegenusMergus in thesubfamilyAnatinae |
| Acquired | 9 September 1919 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Transferred toFish and Wildlife Service 30 June 1940 |
 U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service | |
| Name | US FWSMerganser |
| Namesake | Previous name retained |
| Acquired | 30 June 1940 |
| Decommissioned | 1942 or 1943 |
| General characteristics (as private motorboat) | |
| Type | Motorboat |
| Length | 45 ft (13.7 m) |
| Propulsion | 20 hp (15 kW)Alcogasoline engine |
| General characteristics (as U.S. Navy patrol boat) | |
| Type | Patrol vessel |
| Length | 54 ft (16.5 m) |
| Propulsion | 20 hp (15 kW) Alco gasoline engine |
| General characteristics (as BOF patrol boat) | |
| Type | Fisherypatrol vessel |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 54 ft (16.5 m) |
| Beam | 10 ft 6 in (3.2 m) |
| Draft | 3 ft 8 in (1.1 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 9 mph (14 km/h) |
The secondUSSCalypso (SP-632) was aUnited States Navypatrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919. She originally operated as the privatemotorboatCalypso from 1909 to 1917. After the conclusion of her U.S. Navy career, she served as thefishery patrol vessel in theUnited States Bureau of Fisheries fleet from 1919 to 1940 asUSFSMerganser and in theFish and Wildlife Service fleet asUS FWSMerganser from 1940 to 1942.
Calypso was built as a privatemotorboat of the same name by theNew York Yacht, Launch & Engine Company atMorris Heights in theBronx,New York, in 1909.[2] She operated as apleasure craft.[2]
In June 1917, the U.S. Navy purchasedCalypso from her owner, A. L. Mason ofWestfield,New Jersey,[2] for use as asection patrol boat duringWorld War I. After the Navy modified her into amotorlaunch,[2] she wascommissioned as USSCalypso (SP-632) in July 1917. She performed patrol duty along the coast of thenortheastern United States for the rest of World War I.
World War I ended on 11 November 1918, and sometime thereafter the NavydecommissionedCalypso. Under anexecutive order dated 24 May 1919 addressing the disposition of vessels the Navy no longer required,Calypso was among several vessels designated for transfer to theUnited States Bureau of Fisheries (BOF).[2] The Navy duly transferred her to the BOF on 9 September 1919.
Prior toCalypso's official transfer, the Bureau of Fisheries took possession of her atQuincy, Massachusetts, in July 1919 and renamed her USFSMerganser.[2] The BOF vesselUSFS Phalarope towedMerganser and another former U.S. Navy patrol boat, the BOF vesselUSFSPetrel, from Quincy to theNorfolk Navy Yard inPortsmouth,Virginia.[2] ThereMerganser andPetrel were loaded aboard the U.S. NavycollierUSS Neptune on 3 October 1919.[2]Neptune transported them to thePuget Sound Navy Yard inBremerton,Washington, arriving there in early 1920.[2] After they were unloaded,Merganser andPetrel were taken toSeattle, Washington, to undergo inspection.[2]
After the inspections were complete,Merganser andPetrel were loaded aboard thePacific American FisheriessteamerRedwood, which transported them toKings Cove,Territory of Alaska, whereRedwood arrived on 18 June 1920.[2] The BOF intended to use them to conductfishery patrols in the waters of Alaska, but withheld them from service, and instead sent them back to Seattle for repairs and to modify them for fishery patrol work as funds became available for the repairs and modifications.[2] During the remainder of 1920,Merganser underwent overUS$3,000 in repairs at Seattle.[2]
In March 1921, theUnited States Forest Service vesselHiawathatowedMerganser toKetchikan, Territory of Alaska.[2] She conducted no fishery patrols, and nearly a year later, in early 1922, the BOF vesselUSFS Auklet towed her fromWrangell, Territory of Alaska, back to Seattle, where she underwent additional repairs and had her original 20-horsepower (15 kW)Alcogasoline engine replaced with a new 16-horsepower (12 kW) engine.[2] After two months in Seattle, she was loaded aboard theNorthwestern Fisheries Company shipSt. Paul, which transported her toChignik, Territory of Alaska, arriving there on 25 April 1922.[2]
Merganser finally took up her fishery patrol duties during the 1922 fishing season, and began her career oflaw enforcement protectinghalibut,salmon,sea otter, andfur seal populations in the waters of the Territory of Alaska.[2] Generally, she patrolled actively each year during the fishing season, then was hauled out of the water during each off season.[2]
During the mid-1920s,Merganser was based atIkatan onUnimak Island in theAleutian Islands, from which she conducted fishery patrols along theAlaska Peninsula.[2] In 1925, she ran aground on Unimak Island and was declared missing.[2] Sent to search for her, theUnited States Coast GuardcutterUSCGC Haida discovered her 10 days after she ran aground and pulled her free;Merganser was found to have suffered only minor damage.[2]
In 1931, the BOF transferredMerganser from fishery patrol duty to duty as thetender for thefish hatchery atYes Bay, Territory of Alaska, replacing the BOF launchUSFS Puffin in this capacity.[2] After the hatchery closed in 1933,Merganser returned to fishery patrols, operating in the southwestern district in the Territory of Alaska.[2]
In 1939, the BOF was transferred from theUnited States Department of Commerce to theUnited States Department of the Interior,[3] and on 30 June 1940, it was merged with the Interior Department's Division of Biological Survey to form the new Fish and Wildlife Service,[4] an element of the Interior Department destined to become theUnited States Fish and Wildlife Service in 1956.[5] The vessel thus became part of the FWS fleet as US FWSMerganser.Merganser last appeared on an FWS vessel list in 1942;[2] she did not appear on FWS lists in 1943,[2] and presumably was decommissioned in the meantime.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1925 | |
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