Betty M. II (S.P. 623)
1917-1919
The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time of her acquisition.
(S.P. 623: tonnage 19 (gross); length 60'0"; beam 10'0"; draft 2'9" (aft); sped 25 knots (maximum), complement 6; armament 1 3-pounder, 2 machine guns)
Betty M. II, a wooden-hulled twin-screw motor boat built in 1916 at Trenton, Mich., by the Church Boat Co., was purchased by the Navy for $14,000.00 from Mr. Charles W. Kotcher of Detroit, Michigan, for use as a motor patrol boat. Assigned the identification number S.P. 623; she was placed in commission at Detroit on 4 September 1917, CBM D. C. McKay, USNRF, in command.
Over the next two months, Betty M. II, assigned to the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Naval Districts, operated principally at Detroit, transporting men and mail. After towing Welcome (S.P. 1175) to the American Boat Co. dock at Detroit, Betty M. II was hauled out of the water "for the season" on 26 November 1917 and inactivated because winter ice made boating dangerous on the Great Lakes.
Relaunched on 3 May 1918, Betty M. II was assigned to the Detroit and St. Clair River Patrol and, soon thereafter, resumed operations similar to those she had performed previously. On 25 November 1918, two weeks after the Armistice, Betty M. II was hauled out of the water and decommissioned. She was returned to her owner on 17 March 1919.
Robert J. Cressman
31 January 2006
