USS Zenda (SP-688)

USS Zenda Motorboat Zenda in private use in a harbor in the northeastern United States sometime between 1912 and 1917, prior to U.S. Navy service as USS Zenda (SP-235)
History
United States
Name:	USS Zenda
Namesake:	Previous name retained
Builder:	George Lawley & Son, Neponset, Massachusetts
Completed:	1912
Acquired:	19 May 1917
Commissioned:	13 June 1917
Struck:	30 January 1919
Fate:	Returned to owners 30 January 1919
Notes:	Operated as private motorboat Zenda 1912-1917 from early 1919
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol vessel
Length:	48 ft 0 in (14.63 m)
Beam:	10 ft 0 in (3.05 m)
Draft:	3 ft 7 in (1.09 m) mean
Speed:	10 knots
Complement:	6
Armament:	1 × Lewis machine gun

USS Zenda (SP-688) was an armed motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919.

File:USS Zenda (SP-688) in boat house as private boat.jpg

Zenda in a boathouse while in private use between 1912 and 1917.

Zenda was a wooden-hulled motorboat built in 1912 at Neponset, Massachusetts, by George Lawley & Son. She was acquired by the U.S. Navy on 19 May 1917 from Mr. Francis S. Eaton for service with the section patrol during World War I. Commissioned on 25 June 1917, she served in the 1st Naval District in eastern New England waters as a district patrol craft for the duration of the war.

Decommissioned soon after the armistice, she was returned to her owner on 30 January 1919, and her name was struck from the Navy List that same day.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

External links

• Department of the Navy, Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Zenda (American Motor Boat, 1912), Served as USS Zenda (SP-688) in 1917-1919)