Name USS Rehoboth Acquired 1917 Length 46 m | Completed 1912 Commissioned 12 May 1917 Builder W. G. Abbott | |
Namesake The city of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware (previous name retained) Fate Foundered, 4 October 1917 | ||
The first USS Rehoboth (SP-384) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission in 1917.
Rehoboth was built in 1912 as a fishing vessel by W. G. Abbott, Milford, Delaware. The U.S. Navy acquired her from W. C. Lofland of Lewes, Delaware, for service during World War I, armed her, designated her SP-384, and commissioned her at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 12 May 1917, with Lieutenant, junior grade W. M. Bertrand, USNRF, in command.
Acquired originally for section patrol duty, Rehoboth was designated for distant service in June 1917, and on 14 August 1917 headed for Boston, Massachusetts. At the end of August 1917, she continued on across the Atlantic Ocean. Steaming via the Azores, she reached Brest, France on 18 September and began operations as a unit of Division 12, Patrol Force.
On 4 October, while Rehoboth was on escort duty, her hull began to leak. Her crew — unable to control the flooding — was taken off, and she was sunk by the British light cruiser HMS Castor.