USS Elf
Appearance
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History | |
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Name | USS Elf |
Namesake | Previous name retained |
Builder | Stanley Vansant |
Completed | 1917 |
Acquired | May 1917 |
Commissioned | 3 May 1917 |
Decommissioned | 9 January 1919 |
Fate | Returned to owner 10 January 1919 |
Notes | Operated as private motorboat Elf 1917 and from 1919 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Patrol vessel |
Length | 53 ft (16 m) |
Beam | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
Draft | 3 ft (0.91 m) mean |
Speed | 22 knots |
Complement | 8 |
Armament | 1 × 1-pounder gun |
USS Elf (SP-81) was an armed motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/USS_Elf_%28SP-81%29_in_tropical_harbor.jpg/300px-USS_Elf_%28SP-81%29_in_tropical_harbor.jpg)
Elf was a civilian motorboat completed in early 1917 by Stanley Vansant. In early May 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her under a free lease from her owner, Louis H. Eisenlohr of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for World War I service as a patrol boat. She was commissioned as USS Elf (SP-81) on 3 May 1917.
Elf performed patrol duty in the 4th Naval District until July 1918, when she was transferred to the 7th Naval District.
Elf was decommissioned on 9 January 1919 and returned to her owner on 10 January 1919.
References
[edit]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: Elf (American Motor Boat, 1917). Served as USS Elf (SP-81) in 1917-1919
- NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Elf (SP 81)