USS Onward ( SP - 311 ) , a former yacht named " Galatea " and then " Ungava " was a patrol yacht acquired by the Navy during World War I . She was transferred to the U . S . Coast and Geodetic Survey where she served briefly until return to the Navy for a brief time before her disposal by sale . She was renamed " Thelma Phoebe " . Construction & specifications . The vessel was built as the yacht " Galatea " , hull number 211 , for E . Leydon Ford in 1906 by Charles L . Seabury Co . and Gas Engine & Power Co . , later Consolidated Shipbuilding , Morris Heights , New York The 157 ton ship was in length with a beam and draft of . The yacht was powered by a Seabury triple expansion engine and boiler with steel frames , stem , deck beams and plating . Yacht . Owner E . Leydon Ford sailed " Galatea " by way of the St . Lawrence to Detroit , Michigan to become part of the " Detroit fleet . " The yacht was then purchased by Sylvester W . Labrot and renamed " Ungava " . Naval service . " Ungava " was purchased from Sylvester W . Labrot by the Navy on 1 August 1917 , commissioned as 22 September 1917 at Norfolk , Virginia , Lt . H . L . Stone commanding . For naval service the vessel had a complement of 43 and was armed with two 6 pounder guns and two machine guns . " Onward " patrolled the entrance of Chesapeake Bay between Cape Henry and Cape Charles until transfer . Coast and Geodetic Survey . " Onward " was transferred to the U . S . Coast and Geodetic Survey 18 April 1919 as USC & GS " Onward " . On 19 April 1919 the steamer was put into service , after repairs , using the crew from the USC & GS schooner " Matchless " , which had been surveyed and condemned , with the task of continuing surveys of that ship in the York River and west shore of Chesapeake Bay . The ship completed surveys in Hampton Roads , Virginia and transited to Doboy Sound in Georgia for surveys until going in to Savannah , Georgia for repairs , 25 December 1919 through 8 March 1920 . From Savannah she proceeded to the Neuse River , North Carolina area under the command of Jean Hodgkins Hawley , later Rear Admiral and Assistant Director of the Coast and Geodetic Survey , the vessel began surveys of the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound , North Carolina . She required emergency repairs and was in Elizabeth City , North Carolina from 1 – 16 July , returned to work and suffered a boiler casualty requiring tow into Oriental , North Carolina until 22 July . On resumption survey work included erection of shore signals , correcting the position of the Neuse River light , triangulation and charting the shoreline , tide and current measurements and hydrography . On 21 October 1920 the ship broke from surveys to Norfolk , Virginia where the ship was prepared for return to the Navy . On 23 November 1920 the ship transited to the Naval Operating Base , Hampton , Virginia for transfer on 26 November 1920 . The report of the survey in Doboy Sound noted the vessel had to suspend work due to weather and " the weakened condition of the vessel , which made it hazardous to leave protected waters during stormy weather " even after repairs had been made in Savannah . In the Director ' s introduction concerning the backlog of surveys from the war years and the lack of vessels , in part made up by transfer of Navy vessels , he noted the first season ' s work " showed conclusively that , with one or two exceptions , they were absolutely unsuitable for the work " and two had been rejected with one being returned " this winter . " Rum Runner & Fate . After return to the Navy 26 November 1920 the vessel was apparently disposed of by sale . She grounded and wrecked as " Thelma Phoebe " , while rum running , in April 1923 on south end of Fishers Island , New York . " She was headed to Rum Row off Sandy Hook from the Bahamas when she grounded with " a cargo of liquor valued at a quarter of a million dollars " with reports the Scotch from the wreck had been liberated by local residents .