Ionita (S.P. 388)
1917-1919
The Navy retained the name carried by this small craft at the time of her acquisition.
(S.P. 388; tonnage 1 (gross register); length 55'0" (overall); beam 8'0"; draft 2'2" (mean); speed 19.0 knots (maximum),15.0 knots (cruising); complement 5)
Ionita, a single-screw, wooden-hulled motor boat built by Church Boat Works, Trenton, Mich., in 1914, was acquired by the Navy from her owner, R. A. Newman of Detroit, Michigan, and delivered on 16 August 1917; and commissioned on 23 September 1917, William W. Ford, USNRF, in command.
Ionita, assigned the identification number S.P. 388, was assigned to the Ninth Naval District as a section patrol craft and spent the war on patrol in the Detroit River. After the Armistice, she was transferred to the Naval Training Camp, Detroit, and was later sold to William Thewes, Cleveland, Ohio, on 20 November 1919.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
29 June 2022
