Valiant I (S.P. 535)
1917-1919
The Navy retained the name carried by this small craft that she carried at the time of her acquisition.
(S.P. 535: tonnage 13 (gross register); 1ength 60'0"; beam 12'6"; draft 8'0"; speed 8 knots; complement 9; armament 1 1-pounder, 1 .30-caliber machine gun)
The first Valiant, a wooden-hulled sailing cutter completed in 1896 by Charles S. Drowne, was rebuilt in 1907 and fitted with an auxiliary engine to augment her sails in 1917. The vessel was acquired by the Navy under free lease from Henry M. Warren; and commissioned at Philadelphia, Pa., on 29 May 1917, Ens. R. F. Watson, USNRF, in command.
Valiant, given the identification number S.P. 535, operated on Fourth Naval District patrol duties, in the Cape May, N.J., area, for the duration of the Great War [World War I]. She was subsequently decommissioned at the Corinthian Yacht Club, near Philadelphia, on 11 January 1919, and returned to her owner soon thereafter.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
24 June 2022
