Naval History and Heritage Command
Nokomis I (S.P. 609)
1917-1938
The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time of her acquisition.
I
(S.P. 609: displacement 1,265; length 243'0"; beam 31'10"; draft 12'10", speed 16 knots; complement 191; armament 4 3-inch, 2 machine guns)
I
The first Nokomis, a yacht built as Nokomis II by Pusey & Jones, Wilmington, Del. in 1914, was purchased by the a yacht owned by Horace E. Dodge. Navy from Horace E. Dodge, Detroit, Mich. on 1 June 1917; re-named Nokomis on 19 November 1917; and commissioned at the Philadelphia [Pa.] Navy Yard on 3 December 1917.
Fitted out at Philadelphia, Nokomis sailed for Bermuda on 19 December with a French submarine chaser in tow. She departed Bermuda for Brest 8 January 1918, stopping en route at the Azores and Leixoes, Portugal. Operating with the U.S. Patrol Squadron for the remainder of the war, she helped protect American troop transports approaching the coast of France.
Terminating this duty in 1919, Nokomis returned to the United States in August. Reclassified PY-6 in 1920, the yacht was decommissioned at New York 25 February 1921. Outfitted as a tender for the Naval Governor of Santo Domingo in July 1921, she did not assume this duty, but conducted surveys in Mexican and Caribbean waters under direction of the Hydrographic Office.
Returning to Norfolk 24 September 1934, Nokomis was decommissioned on 15 February 1938 and was stricken from the Navy Register on 25 May 1938.
Nokomis was taken over by the Navy 1 July 1917 and re-named Kwasind (S. P. 1233) (q.v.) 22 November 1917.
