USCGC Vidette (1919)

History
United States
Name:|  USCGC Vidette
Builder:|  Essington Company, Pennsylvania
Completed:|  1913
Acquired:|  3 May 1919[1] or 1 July 1919[2]
Fate:|  See note[3]
Notes:|

* Operated as private yacht Howarda 1913-1917
* Served in United States Navy as patrol boat USS Howarda (SP-144) 1917-1919

General characteristics
Type:|  United States Coast Guard Cutter
Displacement:|  38 tons
Length:|  75 ft (23 m)
Beam:|  16 ft (4.9 m)
Draft:|  3 ft 4 in (1.02 m)
Propulsion:|  Gasoline engine
Speed:|  9 knots
Armor:|  1 gun[4]

USCGC Vidette was a United States Coast Guard Cutter commissioned in 1919.

Vidette was built as the wooden-hulled civilian yacht Howarda in 1913 by the Essington Company in Essington, Pennsylvania. The U.S. Navy acquired Howarda in 1917 for use as a patrol boat during World War I. She served in the Navy as USS Howarda (SP-144) until 1919.

The Navy transferred Howarda to the United States Department of the Treasury for use by the United States Coast Guard on 3 May 1919[5] or 1 July 1919.[6] Commissioned as USCGC Vidette, she served at Key West, Florida. On 1 January 1929 she was transferred to Miami, Florida.

Vidette's further career and fate are unclear. The United States Coast Guard Historian's Office states that she was sold on 28 July 1922,[7] but clearly she remained in Coast Guard service through at least 1929. She probably was sold sometime in the 1930s.

## Notes

1. ↑ Per the United States Coast Guard Historian's Office (at http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Vidette1919.asp)
2. ↑ Per the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h8/howarda.htm) and NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170144.htm)
3. ↑ Per the United States Coast Guard Historian's Office (at http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Vidette1919.asp), Vidette was sold on 28 July 1922. However, the same source also says that Vidette operated through at least 1929, a year in which she transferred from one home port to another for continued duty. It is likely that the 1922 date given for her sale is a typographical error and that the ship's actual sale date was 28 July 1932, although this is speculative pending further research.
4. ↑ As the United States Navy patrol boat USS Howarda (SP-144) Vidette mounted one 3-pounder gun. This likely is the gun she retained in United States Coast Guard service, although no source explicitly states this.
5. ↑ Per the United States Coast Guard Historian's Office (at http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Vidette1919.asp)
6. ↑ Per the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h8/howarda.htm) and NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170144.htm)
7. ↑ See http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Vidette1919.asp)

## References

* United States Coast Guard Historian's Office: U.S. Coast Guard Cutter History: Vidette (1919)
* This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
* NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: USCGC Vidette ex-USS Howarda (SP 144)

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