Idylease (S.P. 119)
1917-1919
The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time of her acquisition.
(S.P. 119: tonnage 34 (gross register); length 66'0" (overall); beam 13'6"; draft 2'6" (mean); speed 10 knots (maximum), 9.0 knots (cruising); complement 10; armament 1 1-pounder)
Idylease, a single-screw, wooden-hulled motor yacht built in 1916 at City Island, N.Y., by Kyle & Purdy; was acquired by the Navy from Richard Goldsmith of New York City under free lease. Delivered on 12 July 1917, Idylease, given the identification number S.P. 119 and earmarked for section patrol duties, was commissioned on 9 July 1917, Chief Boatswain Clarence E. Geohegan, USNRF, in command.
Assigned to the Fifth Naval District, Idylease performed patrol and radio inspection duties in Hampton Roads and on the Elizabeth River during the Great War [World War I]. She was returned to her owner at Norfolk on 30 April 1919, having “done the state some service.”
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
25 May 2022
