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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

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  • Ship History
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  • World War I 1917-1918
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Aurora (S.P. 345)

1917-1919

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

(S.P. 345: tonnage 234 (gross); length 110'0" (overall); beam 26'8"; speed 12.0 knots (maximum), 10.0 knots (cruising); complement 20; armament 1 1-pounder)

The single-screw, steel-hulled tug Haverstraw, built in 1906 at Camden, N.J., by John H. Dialogue, had been renamed Aurora by the time the Navy assessed her for potential service during the Great War [World War I]. Chartered by the Navy from the Lehigh Valley Railroad and delivered on 9 August 1917, Aurora, assigned the identification number S.P. 345, was commissioned on 22 September 1917.

Assigned to the Third Naval District for service as a section minesweeper, Aurora operated in that capacity out of Port Richmond until December of 1918, a month after the Armistice, when she was then transferred to Tompkinsville, Staten Island, N.Y., to serve as a tug with the Naval Overseas Transportation Service.

Decommissioned on 24 March 1919, Aurora was returned to her pre-war owners, the Lehigh Valley Railroad. She was stricken from the Navy Register the same day.

Raymond A. Mann

Updated, Robert J. Cressman

1 September 2022

Published: Thu Sep 01 11:37:48 EDT 2022