USS Audwin

	Audwin as a private motorboat sometime between 1911 and 1917.
History
United States Navy
Name	USS Audwin (SP-451)
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	New York Yacht, Launch and Engine Company, Morris Heights, Bronx, New York
Completed	1911
Acquired	30 June 1917
Commissioned	5 November 1917
Decommissioned	27 March 1919
Fate	Transferred to U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 27 March 1919
Notes	Operated as private motorboat Audwin 1911-1917
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
Name	USC&GS Audwin
Namesake	Previous name retained
Acquired	Transferred from U.S. Navy 27 March 1919
Commissioned	1919
Decommissioned	1927
Fate	Sold 1927
General characteristics (as U.S. Navy patrol vessel)
Type	Patrol vessel
Displacement	12.5 tons
Length	60 ft (18.3 m)
Beam	12 ft 6 in (3.8 m)
Draft	3 ft 6 in (1.1 m) (aft)
Propulsion	Gasoline engine
Speed	10 mph
Complement	9
Armament	1 × 1-pounder gun; 1 × machine gun;

USS Audwin (SP-451) was a patrol vessel that served in the United States Navy from 1917 to 1919. She then was a survey vessel in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1919 to 1927.

Construction, acquisition, and commissioning

Audwin was built as a private motorboat in 1911 at Morris Heights in the Bronx, New York, by the New York Yacht, Launch and Engine Company. The U.S. Navy purchased her from M. C. Kimball of New York City on 30 June 1917 for use as a patrol vessel during World War I. After converting her for nava use, the Navy commissioned her at New York on 5 November 1917 as USS Audwin (SP-451) with Ensign Charles Laufer, USNRF, in command.

U.S. Navy service

From her commissioning until May 1918, Audwin patrolled the coastal waters of the 3rd Naval District. In May 1918, she moved to the Great Lakes and spent the remainder of World War I patrolling in the 9th Naval District, operating out of Detroit, Michigan. In November 1918, she returned to New York and resumed patrol duty in the 3rd Naval District. She continued that service until 27 March 1919, when she was decommissioned and transferred to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. Her name was stricken from the Navy list that same day.

U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey service

Commissioned into the Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1919 as USC&GS Audwin, Audwin operated as a survey launch, conducting hydrographic surveys of the waters of the United States West Coast and the Territory of Alaska until 1927.

In 1927, Audwin was sold to P. H. McCue in Seattle, Washington.

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 Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Audwin (American Motor Boat, 1911). Served as USS Audwin (SP-451) in 1917-1919.
NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Audwin (SP 451)
NOAA History: Tools of the Trade: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships: AUDWIN