USS Wanderer ( SP - 132 ) The third USS " Wanderer " ( SP - 132 ) , was an armed yacht that served in the United States Navy from 1917 to 1919 . " Wanderer " was built in 1897 as the " gentleman ' s private steam yacht " " Kethailes " at Leith , Scotland , by Ramage and Ferguson for William Johnston , a wealthy shipowner . " Kethailes " was sold to Mr . H . A . C . Taylor of New York City in 1903 and renamed " Wanderer " . The U . S . Navy acquired " Wanderer " from Taylor on 10 June 1917 for service in World War I . Designated SP - 132 , she was commissioned as USS " Wanderer " New York on 14 July 1917 with Lieutenant Pierre L . Wilson in command . On 28 July 1917 , " Wanderer " departed New York for a brief shakedown before she joined the rest of her division at St . John ' s , Newfoundland , where she arrived on 9 August 1917 . " Wanderer " and six other yachts cleared St . John ' s on 12 August 1917 bound for Ponta Delgada in the Azores , where they made a four - day stop between 19 August 1917 and 24 August 1917 . Late in the evening of 29 August 1917 , the yachts anchored off the breakwater at their destination , Brest , France . The following morning , she and her division mates entered the port itself and tied up to mooring buoys . " Wanderer " was assigned to antisubmarine patrol and coastal convoy escort duties along the north Bay of Biscay coast . Her duty there was enlivened by the weather , which was known for its severity . " Wanderer " — designed as a pleasure craft , not as sturdy as a warship — - had less to fear from German submarine s than from naval mine s , weather , and the rocky , foggy shore . She operated initially on the Brest - to - Quiberon Bay leg of the coastal convoy route . To add to the danger , the Americans initially adopted the French - British system of running their coastal and channel convoys at night . The darkness , however , did not hide " Wanderer " s convoy on the night of 28 – 29 November 1917 , when a submarine successfully sank one of the ships in the convoy and made good her escape . The darkness that was supposed to conceal the convoy actually covered the U - boat ' s retirement and foiled attempts to hunt the submerged enemy . Nevertheless , the French and British insisted on night rather than daylight convoys . It was not until the evening of 7 January 1918 , when another " Wanderer " - escorted convoy lost four ships to a U - boat , that the French and British acquiesced to American demands for daylight convoys supported by patrolling aircraft . The theory behind sending convoys through dangerous waters during daylight was that it as better to find and attack the enemy than try to conceal shipping from him . The very next week , " Wanderer " s first daylight convoy - — also one of the first so conducted — - helped to prove the validity of the concept of daylight convoys escorted by ships and aircraft , making the voyage unmolested . On 12 January 1918 , while escorting that convoy from Brest to Quiberon Bay in daylight , " Wanderer " rescued 10 survivors from the French ship SS " Chateau Faite " , which had attempted a night transit . " Penmarch Pete " , as the Allies nicknamed the U - boat usually stationed off Point Penmarc ' h - — had exacted his toll . On 8 February 1918 , " Wanderer " s portion of the coastal convoy route was extended . From then on , instead of simply making the single - day passage from Brest to Quiberon Bay , she laid over for the night at Quiberon Bay and continued south with the convoy to the mouth of the Gironde River and thence into Bordeaux . On the night of 22 – 23 April 1918 , during the layover at Quiberon Bay on the return trip from Bordeaux to Brest , she witnessed the explosion of the ammunition - laden SS " Florence H . Though " . In reasonably close proximity to the ill - fated ship , " Wanderer " was prevented from approaching the floating conflagration by the large quantity of high explosive s she carried to use against U - boats . Instead , she was forced to leave the rescue operations to the destroyer s and smaller craft in the bay . " Wanderer " continued her escort and patrol service on the French coast through the end of the war . It appears that she had no further noteworthy encounters with the enemy before the armistice of 11 November 1918 . " Wanderer " departed Brest on 5 December 1918 , sailed via the Azores and Bermuda , and reached New London , Connecticut , on 30 December 1918 . In April 1919 , she moved to New York City and was decommissioned . Her name was struck from the Navy List on 24 April 1919 , and she was sold on 22 July 1920 to Mr . J . S . Webster of Baltimore , Maryland . " Wanderer " was one of two U . S . Navy warships named USS " Wanderer " in service simultaneously during World War I , the other being USS " Wanderer " ( SP - 2440 ) .