Vision (S. P. 744), a wooden-hulled, "express-cruiser," screw launch designed by Thomas V. Taylor and completed in 1916 at Watervliet, N.Y., by the Albany Boat Corp., was acquired by the Navy on 3 July 1917 under free lease from L. E. Anderson; and was commissioned on the same day.
However, to avoid confusion with Vision (S. P. 1114), the Navy soon dropped the screw launch's name; and she served under her hull number, S. P. 744. Attached to the 2d Naval District, S. P. 744 operated out of Newport, R.I., on harbor and harbor entrance patrol duties. She also patrolled off the Naval War College and off Rose Island.
Following engine repairs from November 1917 to February 1918, S. P. 744 resumed patrols in the Newport area. On 23 June, the boat got underway southward for duty in the 8th Naval District. Proceeding via a succession of ports along the eastern seaboard from New London, Conn., to Charleston, S.C., Vision arrived at St. Augustine, Fla., on 15 October. She subsequently operated out of Miami, Fla., until she was decommissioned there on 22 January 1919 and returned to her owner.
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(MB: t. 13 (gross); 1. 67'6"; b. 12'6"; dr. 4'- (mean); s. 12 k.; cpl. 9; a. 1 1-pdr.)
Vision (S. P. 1114), a wooden-hulled motorboat completed in 1910 at Harrisburg, Tex., by William Nelson, was acquired by the Navy under a free lease from Haywood Nelms on 27 August 1917; and was commissioned the same day, Ens. Frank H. Nelms, USNRF, in command.
Assigned to the 3d section, 8th Naval District, Vision operated in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas ports of Freeport, Sabine, Palacios, and Galveston. On occasion, she also conducted patrols off the entrance to the Brazos River and in Matagorda Bay.
Vision was towed by SC-157 from Galveston to Harrisburg, was decommissioned on 19 December 1918, and was returned to her owner on the same day.
