Acquired 18 August 1917 Decommissioned 15 May 1919 | Completed 1913 Commissioned 23 September 1917 Length 33 m | |
Namesake Builder Skinner Shipbuilding Company | ||
The second USS Newark (SP-266) was a United States Navy minesweeper and tug in commission from 1917-1919.
Newark was built as a commercial tug of the same name in 1913 by the Skinner Shipbuilding Company at Baltimore, Maryland. The U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, on 18 August 1917 for World War I service as a minesweeper and tug. She was commissioned on 23 September 1917 as USS Newark (SP-266) with Ensign John W. Barr in command.
Operating in the 3rd Naval District (headquartered at New York City) during World War I, Newark got under way on 26 September 1917 as a minesweeper in and around New York City, berthing at Marine Basin. She steamed on patrol to Whitestone, Long Island, New York on 4 January 1918. In February, she operated as a tug, breaking ice in Marine Basin, helping six submarine chasers out of the harbor, and towing ships from docks to coal barges. In May, she resumed minesweeping activities, operating in Ambrose Channel.
After the war, on 22 January 1919, Newark steamed up to Fort Lafayette in New York Harbor, towing barges and ships such as Lowell to the Lackawanna Terminal coal docks in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Newark was decommissioned on 15 May and was sold on 19 May.