USS Venetia

USS "Venetia" (SP-431) was a large 589 gross ton steam yacht leased by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was heavily armed with four guns and depth charges, and was assigned duties of a patrol craft, escorting ships in convoy on the North Atlantic Ocean, and protecting those ships from German submarine attack. "Venetia" was awarded a "star of reward" for her antisubmarine work, and mounted the star on her stack. Post-war she was restored to her original civilian configuration, and was returned to her owner.
A yacht built in Scotland.
"Venetia"—a single-screw, steel-hulled steam yacht built in 1904 at Leith, Scotland, by Hawthorne and Company to plans drawn up by the designers Cox and King—was acquired by the U.S. Navy on 4 August 1917 from industrialist John Diedrich Spreckles for use as a patrol craft. Designated SP-431 and fitted out at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, "Venetia" was commissioned at Mare Island on 15 October 1917, Comdr. Lewis B. Porterfield in command.
World War I service.
Transit to the Atlantic Ocean.
The converted yacht departed Mare Island on 23 October, transited the Panama Canal on 6 November, and reached Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 15 November. The ship underwent alterations at the Philadelphia Navy Yard—including the installation of new radio equipment—before she sailed for New York City on 3 December. Following minor repairs at the New York Navy Yard from 4 to 15 December, "Venetia" returned to Philadelphia.
First transatlantic passage.
Four days before Christmas, "Venetia" sailed for European waters with "SC-67" (allocated to the French Navy) in tow and in company with the converted yacht which, in turn, had the French "SC-173" in tow. The next day, they rendezvoused with , , and off the Delaware Bay breakwater and headed for Bermuda where they arrived on the 26th and remained into the new year, 1918.
The group got underway on the next leg of the transatlantic passage on 7 January and reached the Azores on the 23d. "Venetia" subsequently spent five days at sea, searching for a French subchaser ("SC-319") which had been separated from the convoy. The yacht eventually departed Ponta Delgada on 8 February in company with and —each ship towing a French subchaser. Arriving at Port Leixos, Portugal, on the 13th, "Venetia" got underway again five days later, with the French "SC-172" in tow, and arrived at Gibraltar on the 18th.
While undergoing voyage repairs, "Venetia" received a new depth charge rack and releasing gear. Thus outfitted, "Venetia" sailed on 2 March 1918 in the screen for a 28-ship convoy, bound for Bizerte, Tunisia. Other escorts sharing the mission included , , and the French trawler "Isole". Six days later, "Venetia" got underway back toward Gibraltar, escorting eight vessels, and returned to her home port on 12 March. Based at Gibraltar, the ship performed similar convoy escort missions in the Mediterranean for the duration of hostilities.
Attacking German submarine "UB-52".
Her first contact with the enemy came that spring. On 11 May 1918, "Venetia" was steaming off the port quarter of a convoy bound for Gibraltar, when a torpedo streaked past her bow, some 150 to ahead. Lookouts on the armed yacht then sighted "a large amount of water" spouting into the air over the bow of "SS Susette Fraisinette", a French steamship about away. The merchantman had been torpedoed by "UB-52" and later sank at 0412. While the French trawler "Isole" picked up 34 survivors from "Susette Fraisinette", "Venetia" cruised in widening circles until 0520, carrying out a sector search for the offending U-boat. At 0527, the yacht's maintop lookout sighted "UB-52" away, standing well off the convoy's track and on a course between west and southwest.
"Venetia", at general quarters, headed for "UB-52" at full speed, keeping the submarine bearing one point to starboard, at intervals, as the submarine continued standing off to westward. Soon, the yacht gained perceptibility, and the U-boat came into better view. Her periscopes were down, and lookouts in the yacht noted that the enemy submersible mounted a single gun (a weapon) forward of the small conning tower. The fact that the German's bow seemed "unusually high" out of the water—coupled with the fact that there was "no perceptible bow-wave"—led Comdr. Porterfield to hope that either the enemy's diving apparatus was disabled "... or that he decided to shoot it out."
As "Venetia" bore down on "UB-52", Porterfield laid out his battle plan: keep the U-boat one point on the starboard bow, open up with gunfire at about , machine guns at 2,000, "and finish by ramming him at full speed." Unfortunately, the U-boat's commander, Oberleutnant zur See Launburg, saw "Venetia's" approach and ordered his ship to dive. Porter-field took "Venetia" over where the U-boat had just "pulled the plug" and initiated a search. "Venetia" steamed in the vicinity, within a five-mile (8 km) circle, probing until 0738. During that time, she dropped 13 depth bombs and subsequently set a course to keep the enemy from making further attacks on the convoy.
Twelve days later, "UB-52" met her doom in the Adriatic at the hands of the British submarine HMS "H-4". Survivors from the U-boat reported that "Venetia's" efforts had not only prevented further attacks on the convoy but had driven "UB-52" off. Since Porterfield's action in doggedly pursuing the U-boat had aided substantially in saving the convoy, he received commendations from the British Senior Naval Officer, Gibraltar; from Commander in Chief, Mediterranean; and from the American Patrol Force commander, Rear Admiral Wilson.
Attacking German submarine "UB-39".
Back at sea with a convoy outward bound from Gibraltar soon thereafter, "Venetia's" next encounter with the enemy came within a week of her brush with "UB-52". Just before nightfall on 17 May, the armed yacht was steaming on an irregular zig-zag pattern when the British steamship SS "Sculptor" took a torpedo from "UB-39". "Venetia", two and one-half to three points abaft the beam of the stricken merchantman and away, simultaneously sounded general quarters and rang down emergency full speed ahead.
As the yacht passed astern of "Sculptor", Porterfield assumed that, after making her attack, the submarine had turned aft on the starboard side of the convoy. "Venetia" consequently dropped 300-pound depth charges set at depth, between 1901 and 1902. At that point, the yacht's foretop lookout reported that he could see the wake of a submarine moving through the water. Ensign Willis L. DeCamp took station in the foretop and confirmed the lookout's report.
"Venetia" altered course and dropped depth charges ahead of the wake at 1906, 1908, 1909, 1911, and 1913. Meanwhile, "Surveyor" stood by the damaged merchantman, and Venetia radioed Oran to send a tug. (Gunboat No. 14) assisted in the attack, dropping seven depth charges; "Venetia" subsequently stood by "Sculptor" with orders to get her underway, if possible, in tow, and circled the crippled ship at . By this time, British trawler "Corvi", French trawler "Isole", and French subchasers "SC-171" and "SC-350" picked up survivors and were standing by. "Venetia" then ordered "Isole" to rejoin the convoy.
However, the escorts were not nearly as successful driving away the attacker this time. Twice more, "U-39" closed the convoy, sinking British steamer SS "Mavisbrook" at 2028 and then damaging SS "Elswick Grange" at 2320. The latter eventually reached port under tow.
Searching for another attacking U-boat.
"Venetia's" next encounter with the enemy came less than two months later. On 20 July, the warship departed Gibraltar, bound for Genoa, Italy, as part of the screen for a convoy of 17 ships. Her fellow escorts were British trawler "Kodama", British sloop "Narcissus", Italian trawler "Porto Torres", and American converted yacht .
Three days into the voyage, an enemy submarine, lurking nearby, torpedoed the British merchantman "SS Messidor" at 1924. At that time, "Venetia" was steaming at some astern and was zigzagging to starboard of the convoy. Hearing the explosion, "Venetia" went to full speed and headed toward the front of the convoy. Between 1926 and 2000, she searched for the U-boat and dropped two British and 11 American depth charges. During that time, the ship once sighted a suspicious wake on the starboard bow. "Venetia" came hard right but, upon investigation, decided that the wake had not been made by either a submarine or a torpedo.
While the yacht continued searching for the submarine, she kept within sight of the sinking "Messidor" which her crewmen could see plainly in the moonlight. At 2025, the patrol craft passed within hailing distance of "Kodama" which was busy picking up survivors, asking for a count on the survivors and the missing. "Kodama" replied that she had not finished counting; after telling the trawler to steam in a circle and continue counting until totals had been reached, "Venetia" continued the search for the U-boat.
"Venetia" neared "Kodama" again shortly under an hour later, and ascertained the count of survivors to be 33, with one man missing. Porterfield—not at all certain that "Messidor" would sink—wondered if he should not retain "Messidor's" officers to accompany the steamer to port in case she could be towed in. He prepared a wireless message to Algiers asking for a tug and escort to either Algiers or Bougie, and stating that he would stand by "Messidor" until 0500 the next morning. However, all of his speculations were soon rendered academic, as "Messidor" began listing rapidly to starboard at 2230. Ten minutes later, the freighter rolled over and sank. "Venetia" then headed northward to catch up with the convoy and joined at 0746 on 24 July; two days later, the convoy arrived at Genoa without further incident.
Continued convoy escort duty.
"Venetia" returned to Gibraltar with a 20-ship convoy on 1 August after an uneventful passage. The next day, Comdr. Porterfield was relieved by Capt. C. F. Howell, USCG, as commanding officer. On the 16th of that month, the armed yacht began a refit and overhaul at Gibraltar, entering drydock on the 26th for hull repairs. "Venetia" put to sea on 14 September with an 11-ship convoy and arrived at Genoa six days later. She returned to her home base on 26 September, convoying 19 ships safely to port.
"Venetia" subsequently conducted two more round-trip convoy escort voyages—one to Genoa and one to Bizerte—before she departed Gibraltar on 6 November, bound for Madeira, in company with "Surveyor". The ships arrived at Funchal, Madeira, on the 9th, and "Venetia" departed on the 11th, the day that the armistice was signed at Compiègne, France, ending World War I. The armed yacht made arrival at Ponta Delgada, in the Azores, on the 13th, en route to Gibraltar, which she reached on the 19th.
Post-war operations.
During her last month in European waters, "Venetia" made a round-trip voyage to Portugal before sailing for the United States on 21 December, towing "SC-223", as part of a homeward-bound subchaser detachment built around the tender "Hannibal". Later towing "SC-330", the yacht reached Ponta Delgada on the day after Christmas. Subsequently, touching at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and Port-au-Prince, Haiti, "Venetia" arrived at Guantanamo Bay on 31 January 1919.
Post-war disposition.
She transited the Panama Canal on 3 February and reached San Francisco on the 20th. One week later, on 27 February 1919, "Venetia" shifted to the Mare Island Navy Yard where she was decommissioned, and all of her military fittings were removed. She was returned to her owner on 4 April 1919.
Continued maritime service.
"Venetia" remained under the ownership of the entrepreneur John D. Spreckles until his death in June 1926. The graceful yacht was then sold to James Playfair, of Midland, Ontario, who owned the ship from 1928 to 1939. The ownership of the erstwhile convoy escort and patrol craft changed hands again in 1940, when R. S. Misener acquired the ship. After some 65 years in operation—the latter years on the Great Lakes—she disappeared from the Lloyd's Register of Yachts in 1968.