USS Sussex (SP-685)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Sussex.
USS Sussex (SP-685) with her crew posed on deck, c. 1917-1919.
History
United States
Name: Sussex
Namesake: Counties in Delaware, New Jersey, and Virginia
Builder: R. T, Potter, Milton, Delaware
Laid down: date unknown
Completed: in 1913
Acquired: by the U.S. Navy, 5 May 1917
Commissioned: 31 July 1917
Decommissioned: c. 11 March 1919
Struck: 11 March 1919
Fate: sold 16 January 1920; fate unknown
General characteristics
Type: commercial freighter
Displacement: 67 tons
Length: 74' 2"
Beam: 17' 6"
Draft: 6' 9"
Propulsion: steam-powered
Speed: 8 knots
Complement: 22 personnel
Armament: two 1-pounder guns

USS Sussex (SP-685) was a commercial fishing freighter acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She served as a minesweeper on the U.S. East Coast through the war and was sold after the World War I Armistice.

A steamer built in Delaware

The first ship to be so named by the Navy, Sussex (SP-685) -- a fishing steamer built in 1913 by R. T. Potter at Milton, Delaware -- was acquired by the Navy on 5 May 1917 from the Delaware Fish Oil Co., Lewes, Delaware; and was commissioned on 31 May 1917.

First World War service

Sussex operated as a minesweeper in the Third Naval District for the remainder of the conflict and for a few months following the November 1918 Armistice.

Post-war inactivation

She was struck from the Navy list on 11 March 1919 and sold on 16 January 1920.

See also

References

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