Rambler (S. P. 211)
1917-1919
The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time of her acquisition.
(S. P. 211: tonnage 288; length 177'; beam 23'; draft 11'6"; speed 13 knots; armament 2 3-inch, 2 machine guns)
Rambler, a yacht built in 1900 at Elizabethport, N. J., by Lewis Nixon, was acquired by the Navy on 16 August 1917 from Kenneth Van Riper, New York, N.Y.. Given the identification number S. P. 211, Rambler was commissioned at New York on 19 October 1917, Lt. Cmdr. R. K. Dyer, NNV, in command.
Rambler sailed for the Azores on 4 November 1917, and operated with the patrol detachment there until February 1918. Then transferred to the French coast, the armed yacht, operated out of Brest, on patrol and escort duty, for the remainder of World War I.
After the Armistice [11 November 1918], Rambler remained in European waters and into the spring of 1919 carried mail and transported passengers between British and French ports. On 20 May 1919, she got underway for the United States and arrived at New York late in June.
Decommissioned on 9 July 1919, Rambler was stricken from the Navy list on 27 August 1919 and was sold to J. M. Scott, of New York City, on 16 September 1919.
16 September 2005
