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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

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Topic
  • DANFS (Dictionary of American Fighting Ships)
Document Type
  • Ship History
Wars & Conflicts
  • World War I 1917-1918
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Location of Archival Materials

Zig Zag (S. P. 106)

1917-1919

The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time of her acquisition.

(S. P. 106: length 44'0"; beam 8'6"; draft 2'10" (mean); speed 21.0 knots (maximum), 13.0 knots (cruising); armament 1 .30-caliber machine gun)

Zig Zag, a wooden-hulled single-screw motor boat completed in May 1916 at Stamford, Ct.,  by the A. E. Luders Construction Co., was acquired by the Navy from T. J. Backman of Bradenton, Fla., and delivered on 27 June 1917. Assigned the classification S. P. 106, Zig Zag was placed in commission on 8 August 1917.

Assigned to the Seventh Naval District, Zig Zag operated on section patrol duties for the duration of the Great War [World War I] and probably until the cessation of all defensive patrols on 24 November 1918. Subsequently, she lay anchored in the North Beach Basin, Key West, Fla., awaiting disposition when a hurricane battered the Florida Keys on 9 September 1919 and swept through the region with disastrous results.

The next day, eight section patrol boats, including Zig Zag, were found completely wrecked, literally dashed to pieces on the seawall. Salvage crews later hauled the tangled wreckage from the water and burned it, retaining only the machinery to survey it for future disposal. Zig Zag was stricken from the Navy Register on 4 October 1919.

Updated, Robert J. Cressman

21 March 2024

Published: Mon Mar 25 16:56:39 EDT 2024