USS Verdi

USS Verdi (SP-979) in an icy port during World War I.
History
United States
Name	USS Verdi
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Charles L. Seabury Company and Gas Engine and Power Company, Morris Heights, the Bronx, New York
Completed	1909
Acquired	30 June 1917
Commissioned	10 August 1917
Fate	Returned to owner 4 December 1918; wrecked 31 July 1935
Notes	Operated as private motorboat Verdi 1909-1917 and 1918-1935
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Displacement	28 tons
Length	75 ft 0 in (22.86 m)
Beam	11 ft 5 in (3.48 m)
Draft	3 ft 6 in (1.07 m)
Speed	15 knots
Armament	1 × 1-pounder gun 1 × machine gun

USS Verdi (SP-979) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.

Verdi was built as a private motorboat of the same name in 1909 by the Charles L. Seabury Company and the Gas Engine and Power Company at Morris Heights in the Bronx, New York. She was the property of Walter J. Green of Utica, New York, and home-ported at Clayton, New York, on the St. Lawrence River when the U.S. Navy acquired her from Green on 30 June 1917 for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Verdi (SP-979) on 10 August 1917.

Assigned to the 9th Naval District, Verdi patrolled on the Great Lakes for the rest of World War I.

Verdi was returned to Green on 4 December 1918. She remained in civilian use until 31 July 1935, when she became stranded in the St. Lawrence River about 500 feet (150 meters) off Watch Island, New York, and became a total loss.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Verdi (SP-979), 1917-1918. Previously the civilian motor boat Verdi (1909)
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Verdi (SP 979)

Verdi as a private motorboat sometime between 1909 and 1917.