USS Helena I

History
United States
Name	USS Helena I
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Van Sant Brothers, Port Republic, New Jersey
Completed	1906
Acquired	May 1917
Commissioned	7 September 1917
Decommissioned	27 August 1919
Stricken	4 October 1919
Fate	Sold, 27 August 1919 Wrecked prior to delivery to new owner, 11 September 1919
Notes	Operated as private motor yacht Helena I 1906-1917
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Displacement	9 long tons (9 t)
Length	43 ft (13 m)
Beam	10 ft (3.0 m)
Draft	3 ft (0.91 m) (mean)
Speed	10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h)
Armament	1 × machine gun

USS Helena I (SP-24) was an armed yacht that served the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919.

Helena I was built in 1906 by the Van Sant Brothers, Port Republic, New Jersey, as a private motor yacht. The U.S. Navy acquired her from Dr. W. G. Hall of Trenton, New Jersey, in May 1917 for World War I service. Assigned to the 7th Naval District, she was taken to Key West, Florida, and commissioned as the USS Helena I (SP-24) on 7 September 1917.

Helena I operated as a harbor and coastal patrol boat in the vicinity of Key West, until decommissioned and sold on 27 August 1919. Before she could be delivered to her new owner, however, Helena I was among eight former SP boats wrecked on 11 September by the 1919 Florida Keys Hurricane, while anchored in the North Beach Basin, Key West. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 4 October 1919

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Helena I (SP 24)