USS Lyndonia (SP-734), later known as USS Vega (SP-734) was a yacht

Yacht

A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...

 acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. She was assigned as an armed patrol craft, but, at times, performed other duties along the U.S. East Coast, such as dispatch boat

Dispatch boat

Dispatch boats were small boats, and sometimes large ships, tasked to carry military dispatches from ship to ship or from ship to shore or, in some cases from shore to shore...

 and training ship for the U.S. Naval Academy. Post-war, she was disposed of through sale to the public.

Constructed in New York

Lyndonia -- a steel-hulled, steam yacht designed by Charles L. Seabury and built in 1907 at Morris Heights, New York, by the Gas Engine and Power Co. and the Charles Seabury Co. -- was acquired by the Navy from the noted Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, publisher Cyrus H. K. Curtis on 5 September 1917. Designated SP-734 and converted for Navy use at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, the former yacht was placed in commission on 4 December 1917, Lt. Comdr. John J. McCracken in command.

Start-up problems

Lyndonia departed Philadelphia on 22 December bound for Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

 in company with Venetia (SP-431)

USS Venetia (SP-431)

USS Venetia was a large 589 gross ton steam yacht leased by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was heavily armed with for guns and depth charges, and was assigned duties of a patrol craft, escorting ships in convoy on the North Atlantic Ocean, and protecting those ships from German submarine...

 and tugs Gypsum Queen (SP-430)

USS Gypsum Queen (SP-430)

USS Gypsum Queen was a tugboat acquired by the United States Navy during World War I. She was assigned to the French coast as a minesweeper, as well as a tugboat to provide assistance to disabled Allied ships...

 and Montauk (SP-1213)

USS Montauk (SP-1213)

USS Montauk was a tugboat purchased by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was assigned to towing duties in New York City waterways. Post-war she was decommissioned and sold.-History:...

. At 1020 the following day, Lyndonia blew two tubes in her forward boiler; at 1800, all tubes in the after boiler blew as well. As the ship slowly lost steam, she signaled Venetia of her plight. Accordingly, at 1820, Montauk passed a hawser

Hawser

Hawser is a nautical term for a thick cable or rope used in mooring or towing a ship. A hawser passes through a hawsehole, also known as a cat hole, located on the hawse....

 to Lyndonia and took her in tow. On Christmas Day, while en route to the Virginia Capes

Virginia Capes

The Virginia Capes are the two capes, Cape Charles to the north and Cape Henry to the south, that define the entrance to Chesapeake Bay on the eastern coast of North America....

, the remaining boiler tubes blew, leaving the ship without any steam whatever.

As if losing steam were not enough, 10 minutes later, the hawser parted, leaving Lyndonia adrift for nearly 20 minutes before she was again taken in tow. Subsequently, Joseph F. Bellows (SP-323)

USS Joseph F. Bellows (SP-323)

USS Joseph F. Bellows was a fishing boat purchased by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was outfitted as an armed minesweeper and was assigned to the Virginia coast. Post-war she served as a tender and supply ship until sold in 1919....

 pulled Lyndonia to the Norfolk Navy Yard where the yacht then underwent repairs in drydock.

Ice blocks passage

Lyndonia got underway on 4 February for New London, Connecticut

New London, Connecticut

New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....

, and arrived off the Delaware Capes the following day, only to encounter heavy ice floes which blocked further passage. She accordingly returned to Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

, and remained there into the spring, serving as dispatch and mail boat

Dispatch boat

Dispatch boats were small boats, and sometimes large ships, tasked to carry military dispatches from ship to ship or from ship to shore or, in some cases from shore to shore...

 in the Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

. During this tour of duty, on 20 February, the ship was renamed Vega.

On 22 April, Vega sailed for Philadelphia. Arriving there the following day, she was attached to the 4th Naval District and based at Cold Spring Inlet, near Cape May, New Jersey

Cape May, New Jersey

Cape May is a city at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean and is one of the country's oldest vacation resort destinations. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 United States...

, for patrols off the New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 coast.

Friendly fire on a neutral ship

On 25 June, Vega sighted a ship resembling a surfaced submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 at long range. Going to general quarters

General quarters

General Quarters or Battle Stations is an announcement made aboard a naval warship to signal the crew to prepare for battle or imminent damage....

, Vega altered course to close the unidentified craft and flashed recognition signals and challenges in Morse code

Morse code

Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...

. The ship would not respond, however, and Vega opened fire with her 6-pounder forward -- firing six quick shots before the target hove to. Upon closer investigation, the unidentified ship turned out to be SS Skandeborg, a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 merchantman

Cargo ship

A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...

 bound from Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 with a general cargo -- mostly sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

. No member of the Danish vessel's crew knew Morse code -- hence her seeming reluctance to reply to Vega's challenges!

The warship

Warship

A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...

 continued her operations out of Cold Spring Inlet into the fall of 1918. During this period, she also undertook local escort duties.

Assigned as training ship

On 28 October, following repairs at the New York Navy Yard, Vega sailed south to Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

, where she arrived three days later to commence duties as a training ship for midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy. She remained in the Annapolis vicinity from 1 November to 4 December before she got underway for Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...

, on 5 December.

Reaching Pensacola three days before Christmas, 1918, Vega conducted local operations out of Pensacola until 22 March 1919, when she got underway for Philadelphia.

Post-war disposition

The yacht remained at the Philadelphia Navy Yard through the spring and summer months, and was decommissioned on Friday, 13 September 1919. She was subsequently sold to Charles H. Crocker, of San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, on 20 December 1921.