Acquired 1 August 1918 Length 20 m | Completed 1903 Commissioned 1 August 1918 | |
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Namesake Hiawatha, a leader of the Onondaga and Mohawk nations of Native Americans and a fictional character in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Song of Hiawatha" Builder Brown, Tottenville, Staten Island, New York | ||
The second USS Hiawatha (ID-2892 or SP-2892) was a harbor tug that served in the United States Navy in 1918.
Hiawatha was built as a civilian, wooden-hulled steam tug of the same name in 1903 by Brown at Tottenville, Staten Island, New York. The U.S. Navy acquired her under charter from her owner for World War I service on 1 August 1918. She was commissioned as USS Hiawatha (ID-2892 or SP-2892) at New York City the same day.
Assigned to the 3rd Naval District, Hiawatha operated with the guard ship USS Amphitrite and was manned either by sailors from Amphitrite or by a civilian crew. She performed guard duty in the New York Harbor and boarded ships to inspect cargo until she was decommissioned on 5 December 1918.
Hiawatha was returned to her owner on either 30 April 1919 or 5 May 1919.
Throughout her U.S. Navy service, Hiawatha was one of two ships simultaneously in service as USS Hiawatha, the other being the patrol vessel USS Hiawatha (SP-183).