Name USS Betty M. II Completed 1916 Commissioned 4 September 1917 Length 18 m | Namesake Previous name retained Acquired 1917 Decommissioned 25 November 1918 Builder Church Boat Company | |
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USS Betty M. II (SP-623) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.
Betty M. II was built as a private motorboat of the same name by the Church Boat Company at Sibley, Michigan, in 1916. In 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her under a free lease from her owner, Charles W. Kotcher of Detroit, Michigan, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned at Detroit as USS Betty M. II (SP-623) on 4 September 1917 with Chief Boatswain's Mate D. C. McKay, USNRF, in command.
Assigned to the 9th, 10th, and 11th Naval Districts - a single administrative entity created by the almagamation of the 9th Naval District, 10th Naval District, and 11th Naval District - on the Great Lakes, Betty M. II operated principally at Detroit, transporting personnel and mail. After towing the patrol boat USS Welcome (SP-1175) to the American Boat Company dock at Detroit, Betty M. II was hauled out of the water for the winter on 26 November 1917 and inactivated prior to the seasonal icing over of the Great Lakes.
Relaunched after the spring thaw on 3 May 1918, Betty M. II was assigned to the Detroit and St. Clair River Patrol on the Detroit River and St. Clair River and, soon thereafter, resumed the transportation of personnel and mail. She continued these operations through the end of World War I.
On 25 November 1918, Betty M. II was hauled out of the water for the season and decommissioned. She was returned to Kotcher on 17 March 1919.