Wachusetts (S.P. 548)
1918-1919
The Navy retained the name this vessel carried at the time of her acquisition.
(S.P. 548: tonnage 65 (gross); length 101'0"; beam 16'6"; draft 7'0" (full load); speed 12.0 knots; complement 6; armament 1 3-pounder, 2 .30-caliber machine guns)
W.C.T.U. was built in 1916 by W. A. and S. D. Moss of Friendship, Maine. Acquired by the Navy in the spring of 1917 from the Howard Lumber Co. of Boston, Mass., the craft, renamed Wachusetts by that time, was taken over on 26 April 1917 and was assigned the identification number S.P. 548. As of 1 February 1918, Wachusetts was operating out of the section base at Boothbay, Maine, probably on local patrol duties, under the Commandant, First Naval District. Her commanding officer as of that time was Ens. J. B. Eckroll, USNRF.
The ship's name was apparently dropped, most likely to avoid confusion with the Naval Overseas Transportation cargo vessel Wachusett (Id. No. 1840), which had been placed in commission at Hoboken, N.J., in January 1918, and the boat became simply S.P. 548. Little is known of her activities because her deck logs have been lost. Further confusion exists as to her ultimate fate. She was stricken from the Navy List on 25 October 1919 and reportedly transferred to the Bureau of Fisheries simultaneously. However, subsequent lists of vessels operated by that agency fail to account for her.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
30 March 2022
