Name USS Helena I Completed 1906 Commissioned 7 September 1917 Length 13 m | Namesake Previous name retained Acquired May 1917 Decommissioned 27 August 1919 Builder Van Sant Brothers | |
USS Helena I (SP-24) was an armed yacht that served the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917-1919.
Helena I was built in 1906 by the Van Sant Brothers, Port Republic, New Jersey, as a private motor yacht. The U.S. Navy acquired her from Dr. W. G. Hall of Trenton, New Jersey, in May 1917 for World War I service. Assigned to the 7th Naval District, she was taken to Key West, Florida, and commissioned as the USS Helena I (SP-24) on 7 September 1917. Quartermaster 2nd Class Otis Curry was placed in command.
Helena I operated as a harbor and coastal patrol boat in the vicinity of Key West, until decommissioned and sold on 27 August 1919. Before she could be delivered to her new owner, however, Helena I was among eight former SP boats wrecked on 11 September by the 1919 Florida Keys Hurricane, while anchored in the North Beach Basin, Key West. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 4 October 1919