Augusta III (Yacht)
(Yacht: t. 93; 1. 103'; b. 16'; dr. 5' (mean); s. 12.0 k.; cpl. 14; a. 2 3-pdrs., 1 mg.)
A city on the eastern border of Georgia located about half way between Savannah and the North Carolina border. Augusta is the seat of government for Richmond County.
A city in southwestern Maine on the Kennebec River. It is both the state capital and the seat of government for Kennebec County.
The first, third, and fourth Augustas were named for the city in Georgia while the fifth was named for the capital of Maine.
III
Augusta, a "luxuriously furnished" wooden-hulled steam yacht designed by the noted naval architect firm of Gielow and Orr and built in 1912 by the Nelson Shipyard and Construction Co., of Harrisburg, Tex., for Camille J. Pillot (1861-1953), a prominent Houston merchant and one of the original stockholders of the Houston Chronicle newspaper, was acquired by the Navy under a free lease on 1 August 1917, assigned the classification SP-946, and commissioned on 11 August 1917, Ens. Norman V. Pillot, USNRF, in command.
Available records indicate that Augusta spent the duration of World War I on section patrol duties in the 8th Naval District, specifically operating out of Galveston, Tex., on harbor patrol, tracking the movements of shipping in that busy gulf coast port, and conducting routine training and drills, interspersed with the usual upkeep and maintenance. Decommissioned on 12 December 1918, a month and a day after the armistice was signed ending World War I. Augusta was simultaneously returned to her owner.
Later re-engined, Augusta remained in the hands of Camille Pilot until his death at the age of 92, in 1953. Shortly thereafter, the name Augusta disappeared from the contemporary lists of American yachts.
