USS Lydonia ( SP - 700 ) USS " Lydonia " ( SP - 700 ) was a 497 gross ton yacht , " Lydonia II " , acquired from William A . Lydon by the U . S . Navy during World War I . She was outfitted as a patrol craft and spent most of the war based out of Gibraltar , escorting and protecting Allied ships in the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic Ocean coast of Europe . Post - war she was transferred to the U . S . Coast and Geodetic Survey as USCGS " Lydonia " ( CS - 302 ) . Construction . " Lydonia II " was the second yacht of the name built by Pusey and Jones , Wilmington , Delaware as hull # 348 under contract # 1205 for William A . Lydon , Commodore of the Chicago Yacht Club , and was more than 250 tons larger than the " Lydonia I " completed just two years earlier . The ship was designed by William A . Gardner with construction started in early April 1911 and launch on 25 July 1911 . Fitting out took nine months with sea trial on 1 May 1912 . She was described as " queen of the Great Lakes fleet " and " the finest on the Great Lakes . " World War I service . The ship was acquired by the Navy 21 August 1917 from William A . Lydon ; and commissioned as USS " Lydonia " ( SP - 700 ) 27 October 1917 , Lt . Cmdr , R . P . McCullough in command . Based out of Gibraltar . After repairs and target practice off Bermuda , the converted yacht departed the Caribbean in mid November and arrived Horta , Azores , 7 December 1917 . Two weeks later she arrived Gibraltar to join the U . S . patrol squadron operating along the Atlantic and Mediterranean sides of the Straits of Gibraltar . Assigned the task of protecting Mediterranean supply convoys , " Lydonia " remained on constant vigil for deadly U - boat s during the early . months of 1918 . She made two attacks on enemy submarine s in February while guarding Allied convoys and although the results were negative . the experience was to pay off at a later date . Encountering U - boat UB - 70 . On 8 May , " Lydonia " was steaming with a convoy from Bizerte to Gibraltar when she encountered German submarine " UB - 70 " . With the British destroyer " Basilisk " , the patrol craft made coordinated depth charge attacks at 1735 , after the British merchant ship " SS Ingleside " was destroyed by a torpedo . After 15 minutes of running battle , the attack was curtailed and survivors of " Ingleside " were rescued . Heavy seas prevented an immediate assessment of possible damage to the submarine , but later evaluations credited " Lydonia " and " Basilisk " with sinking " UB 70 " . End - of - war operations . For the rest of the war , " Lydonia " continued escort operations from Bizerte to Gibraltar , playing a major role in the free movement of vital wartime supplies . Calling in Azores and Caribbean ports en route to the United States , she arrived Hampton Roads , Virginia , 6 February 1919 . Post - war disposal . " Lydonia " decommissioned at Norfolk , Virginia , 7 August 1919 and was transferred to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey the same day . United States Coast and Geodetic Survey service . Commissioned into the Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1919 as USC & GS " Lydonia " , " Lydonia " operated as a survey ship until 1947 .