A whale of the dolphin family found in northern seas and in the lower St. Lawrence River. The beluga, known as the white whale because of its adult coloring, grows to about 10 feet in length.
Beluga (SP-536), a motorboat built in 1911 at Greenport, Long Island, N.Y., by the Greenport Basin & Construction Co., was acquired by the Navy on free lease from Mr. J. Henry Herring of New Bedford, Mass., on 14 May 1917 and was commissioned on 15 May 1917.
Assigned to the 2d Naval District section patrol, Beluga conducted defensive patrols in the coastal waters surrounding the section bases at Newport, R.I., and at New Bedford, Mass., for the duration of World War I. On 25 November 1918, her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register, and she was returned to Mr. Herring.
Raymond A. Mann
24 February 2006
