USS Vedette ( SP - 163 ) The first USS " Vedette " ( SP - 163 ) was a commercial yacht built in 1899 . At the outbreak of World War I , the yacht was leased by the United States Navy , and was used as a patrol vessel in the North Atlantic Ocean . She served honorably during the war , rescuing survivors at sea , and attacking a German U - Boat . At war ’ s end , she was converted to her original configuration and returned to her owner , the railroad executive , financier , and philanthropist Frederick W . Vanderbilt ( 1856 - 1938 ) of New York City . Built in Bath , Maine . " Virginia " - a steel - hulled , single - screw steam yacht designed by G . L . Watson and built at Bath , Maine , by Bath Iron Works for New York City merchant Isaac Stern — was delivered on 23 December 1899 . In 1916 , the yacht was acquired by the Frederick W . Vanderbilt and renamed " Vedette " . Acquired by the U . S . Navy . The Navy acquired the ship from Vanderbilt on a free - lease basis on 4 May 1917 . Earmarked for convoy escort and patrol duty overseas , " Vedette " was assigned the section patrol number SP - 163 and was commissioned at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn , New York , on 28 May 1917 with Lieutenant Commander Chester L . Hand in command . World War I service . Sailing for France . " Vedette " and five other patrol vessels - all former yachts - got underway from Tompkinsville on Staten Island , New York , bound for Bermuda on 9 June 1917 on the first leg of their voyage to France . and were the first to weigh anchor ; , , , and " Vedette " followed . The ships formed up into divisions , with " Vedette " leading the second group . On the evening of the 12 June 1917 , they anchored in St . George ' s harbor at Bermuda . They remained in Bermuda for a little over three days , coaling ship and taking on water . The vessels got underway again on the morning of 16 June 1917 and reached the Azores on 25 June 1917 . Witnessing the debris of war . After coaling and taking on water and provisions in the Azores , " Vedette " and her consorts began their passage to Brest , France . En route , they soon encountered abundant evidence that they were entering a war zone . " Vedette " spotted " considerable floating wreckage and a cork life belt " upon which no name was visible on the evening of 2 July 1917 . The next morning , she spotted more of the same : boxes , barrels , a broken life - belt , and pieces of planking from an anonymous ship or ships — mute evidence of a sinking . The squadron sighted the French coast at 0440 on 4 July 1917 , but before they could make it into port , " Christabel " broke down and " Vedette " stood by until she could get underway again . Later , as the ships made their way toward Brest , a French torpedo boat came out and greeted the American force . The six patrol vessels were among the first ships of the United States Navy to reach French waters in World War I . Over the next 10 days , " Vedette " prepared for the operations that lay ahead . She finally put to sea , in company with " Harvard " , on the morning of 16 July 1917 . Assigned to convoy patrol duty . Her first patrol pretty much set the standard theme for the many that followed . The two ships initially headed for the middle of the patrol line 10 nautical miles ( 18 . 5 kilometers ) off the coast , extending from the northward and westward of Ushant to the southward of Belle Île . " Vedette " patrolled the southern half of the line while " Harvard " prowled the northern . " Vedette " returned to Brest on 19 July 1917 , without having met the enemy , but she did encounter more wreckage , including life rings from an unidentified ship . She twice more patrolled the area between Brest and Ushant , near Belle Isle , before the end of July 1917 . " Vedette " remained in port the first few days of August 1917 , and she suffered slight damage on the morning of 3 August 1917 when " Christabel " - while shifting moorings — raked her stern , carrying away the flagstaff and damaging the after rail . Nevertheless , " Vedette " stood out to sea at 1700 that afternoon in the screen of an outward - bound " convoy " of 10 merchant ships which were also protected by " Harvard " , three French patrol vessels , and two British ships . " Vedette " left that convoy at 0050 on 4 August 1917 and patrolled the vicinity until 0650 , when she picked up a Brest - bound convoy of 19 merchantmen escorted by three patrol boats . " Vedette " anchored at Brest at 1025 the same day , but her respite was short . Less than six hours later , she stood out with a convoy of 16 merchantmen , three French patrol boats , and " Harvard " . " Vedette " left that convoy when it passed out of the coastal danger zone and waited to pick up a Brest - bound convoy at 1655 on 5 August 1917 . While en route in , " Harvard " broke down , and " Vedette " stood by until her longstanding partner was ready to proceed . Friendly fire . Still en route to Brest during the pre - dawn hours of 6 August 1917 , " Vedette " sighted a " suspicious vessel " at 0320 and opened fire with her number two 3 - inch ( 76 . 2 - mm ) gun . The shot fell well forward of the stranger , who soon signaled that she was a French patrol boat . " Vedette " ' s first shot of the war had been aimed at a " friendly " ship . " Vedette " was docked at Brest shortly after noon that day for alterations . After the work was completed during the forenoon watch ( 0800 - 1200 ) on 7 August 1917 , the ship was towed back to her former berth , where she provisioned and made ready to return to the Ushant - Brest patrol line . Convoy ship strikes a mine . " Vedette " escorted an outward - bound convoy late on 9 August 1917 , and an inward - bound one on 10 August 1917 , before she and " Harvard " were assigned to another outward - bound group of 10 merchantmen and two French patrol vessels . At 2010 , " Vedette " ' s watch heard an explosion astern , accompanied by several blasts of a ship ' s whistle . A British merchantman , last in line of the convoy , had struck a naval mine ; nearby , a French vessel rescued 14 men before the rapidly sinking ship disappeared . Twelve men had died in the explosion . After delivering the convoy to Quiberon Bay , " Vedette " anchored at 0645 , but that evening again got underway — with a convoy of eight merchantmen , two French patrol vessels , and " Harvard " — and arrived back at Brest with that group at noon on the following day . On the morning of 15 August 1917 , " Vedette " was underway again and conducted convoy escort operations through the next day . Rescuing crew members of torpedoed ship . At 0650 on 17 August 1917 , the Greek steamship " Pontoporos " — bound from Tyne Dock to Spezia with a cargo of 4 , 600 tons of coal and 2 , 000 tons of coke — was hit by a torpedo on the starboard beam . It exploded eight feet ( 2 . 4 m ) below the waterline , abreast the engine room , and tore up the decking topside . " Vedette " rang up full speed ahead and stood about , hunting for the submarine . Unable to make contact with the enemy , the yacht picked up 27 men from a lifeboat , including the master of " Pontoporos " , a Captain Panas , at 0715 . Two more men were transferred from a French fishing boat five minutes later . " Vedette " soon cast the lifeboat adrift at 0725 and circled the sinking ship ; at 0740 , " Pontoporos " sank from sight . After " Vedette " reached Port Heliguen later that morning , she turned the 29 survivors over to French authorities . " Vedette " continued the same routine of operations — interspersed with periods of upkeep , maintenance , and provisioning — through the remainder of the summer and autumn of 1917 and into 1918 . On 20 January 1918 , Lieutenant Commander Hand was relieved as commanding officer by Lieutenant Charles Alan Pownall ( 1887 - 1975 ) , a future rear admiral who would command aircraft carrier task force during World War II and later serve as governor of Guam . Updating anti - submarine weapons . By January 1918 , the ship ' s armament reflected the multi - national character of the escort work performed out of Brest , for not only did she carry her original allotment of 10 American Sperry Mk . I " Mines " , but also eight French Guirand charges and three British Type " D " ones . By the summer of 1918 , that had again changed , and the ship carried , by that point , 21 American Mark 2 depth charge s . " Vedette " goes to general quarters . " Vedette " s routine changed little in 1918 . Her only encounter with the enemy , however , came on 5 August 1918 . Underway from Quiberon Bay at 0435 that day , she was steaming at the head of a convoy of 11 ships ; other escorts were " Harvard " , the patrol vessel , and the torpedo boat " Stewart " ( Coast Torpedo Vessel No . 13 ) . At 0802 , the convoy passed Point de Chats abeam to port , distance three nautical miles ( 5 . 6 kilometers ) ; at 0812 , the ships changed course so that by 0835 , they were off Pen Men , abeam to port at a distance of two and one - half nautical miles ( 4 . 6 kilometers ) . At 0924 , " Vedette " s watch felt a slight jar ; within a minute , they saw that the merchant ship SS " Hundvaago " had taken a torpedo and was sinking rapidly . " Vedette " went to full speed ahead and sprang to general quarters . At 0927 , Signalman 3rd Class Nye , Chief Quartermaster Teiper , and the officer of the deck saw a submarine off the starboard quarter of the convoy . " Vedette " heeled as the helm was put over at hard right rudder and she raced toward the enemy . She sounded five short blasts on her whistle , but a merchant ship obstructed her view of the submarine , and the periscope disappeared . " Vedette " immediately commenced a search , circling and trying to locate the enemy submersible . At 0935 , " Vedette " received orders from " Harvard " and , in company with " Stewart " , quickly proceeded to reform the panic - stricken convoy . Within 20 minutes , " Hundvaago " had sunk , another U - boat victim . An hour before noon , " Vedette " resumed her position at the head of the convoy and , 45 minutes later , took station on the port flank of the convoy . Things were not quiet for long , however . At one minute past noon , a French seaplane , attracted to the scene of the torpedoing , dropped a smoke bomb , indicating the presence of what looked like a submarine . " Vedette " again went to general quarters and put over hard right rudder as she sped off to the hunt . She soon picked up a small oil wake about 200 yards ( 183 m ) east of the smoke bomb and dropped a barrage of eight depth charges at 1215 . Ten minutes later , having seen " no further evidence of a submarine , " " Vedette " rejoined the convoy , taking station on the port bow . " Stewart " later dropped four depth charges over a 15 - minute period but failed to learn whether or not she had tangled with a submarine . She nevertheless continued the hunt , in company with " Vedette " , " Harvard " , and " Remlick " , while the newly arrived destroyer " Tucker " ( Destroyer No . 57 ) joined the convoy ' s screen . Rescuing a downed French plane . However , " Vedette ' s " work for that day was not complete until she had assisted a downed French seaplane from the French Naval Air Service . At 1718 , another French plane had dropped a message requesting aid in Bay de Douarnez . A bit under an hour later , " Vedette " lowered her motorboat , which that took the pilots aboard and took the disabled plane in tow . When " Vedette " reached her destination , she lowered a whaleboat which took up the tow and safely delivered the French plane . End - of - war - operations . " Vedette " would never again have that much excitement in a single day . Thereafter , her duties for the remainder of the war were placid as she continued to escort convoys to and from Brest and patrolled offshore in between convoy runs . Less than a month after the Armistice with Germany stilled the guns of World War I on 11 November 1918 , she departed Brest for the last time when she weighed anchor on 6 December 1918 for the long voyage home . Steaming in company with the patrol vessels , , , and " Sultana " , " Vedette " arrived at Ponta Delgada at 1025 on 11 December 1918 . She coaled ship there , took on provisions , and brought aboard 133 bags of coal to store on deck for the transatlantic voyage . Underway at 0702 on 15 December 1918 , the squadron anchored in St . George ' s harbor , Bermuda , on the morning of 24 December 1918 . It got underway again on 25 December 1918 on the last leg of its voyage . Shortly after leaving Bermuda , " Emeline " , " Nokomis " , and " Corona " steamed off " on duty assigned , " leaving " Vedette " alone with " Sultana " — one of her companions on her voyage to Europe in the summer of 1917 . The two patrol vessels entered New York Harbor on the afternoon of 28 December 1918 , home at last . Decommissioning and disposal . At 0900 on 30 December 1918 , " Vedette " moved up the East River to the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn . By noon , her trio of 3 - inch ( 76 . 2 - mm ) guns , her machine gun s , and small arms had been removed . On 4 February 1919 , at Tebo ' s Yacht Basin , " Vedette " was returned to Frederick W . Vanderbilt . She was stricken from the Navy List the same day .