USS Knickerbocker (SP-479)

	Knickerbocker around the time the U.S. Navy acquired her for World War I service on 5 May 1917.
History
United States
Name:	USS Knickerbocker
Namesake:	Previous name retained
Builder:	Neafie & Levy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Completed:	1873
Acquired:	Leased 2 May 1917; Purchased 13 September 1917;
Commissioned:	22 September 1917
Stricken:	16 March 1918
Reinstated:	April 1918
Stricken:	15 February 1919
Decommissioned:	18 February 1919
Fate:	Sold 18 February 1919
Notes:	Operated as commercial tug Knickerbocker 1873–1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol vessel
Tonnage:	123 gross register tons
Length:	110 ft (34 m)
Beam:	23 ft 11 in (7.29 m)
Draft:	11 ft (3.4 m)
Propulsion:	Steam engine
Speed:	9 knots

USS Knickerbocker (SP-479), was a United States Navy tug, minesweeper, and dispatch ship in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Knickerbocker as a commercial tug sometime between 1873 and 1917.

Construction and acquisition

Knickerbocker was built as a commercial tug of the same name in 1873 by Neafie & Levy at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was rebuilt in 1904.

The U.S. Navy leased Knickerbocker from her owner, the Cornell Steamboat Company of New York City, on 2 May 1917 for use during World War I and enrolled her in the Navy Coast Defense Reserve, then purchased her outright from Cornell Steamboat on 13 September 1917. She was commissioned at New York City as USS Knickerbocker (SP-479) on 22 September 1917 with Boatswain M. J. Lounsbery, USNRF, in command.

Operational history

Assigned to the 3rd Naval District, Knickerbocker operated on the Hudson River and in New York Harbor as a minesweeper, tug, and dispatch ship.

Though Knickerbocker was ordered stricken from the Navy List on 14 March 1918 due to her poor material condition and accordingly was stricken on 16 March 1918, a scarcity of tugs resulted in her retention for harbor duty, and she was reinstated on the Navy List in April 1918.

On 30 December 1918, Knickerbocker was assigned as tender to the training and guard ship USS Amphitrite and served as a dispatch ship.

Disposal

Knickerbocker was decommissioned on 18 February 1919 and was sold the same day to Francis J. McDonald of Ardmore, Pennsylvania.

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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 Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Knickerbocker (Harbor Tug, 1873). Served as USS Knickerbocker (SP-479) in 1917–1919
NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Knickerbocker (SP 479)

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