USS Idealia (SP-125)

USS Idealia (SP-125)
USS Idealia (SP-125) underway in port, circa 1918.
Career (USA)
Name:	USS Idealia
Namesake:	name retained by the Navy
Builder:	Elco Company of Bayonne, New Jersey
Laid down:	date unknown
Launched:	date unknown
Completed:	1911
Acquired:	by the Navy under lease in 25 May 1917
Commissioned:	May 1917 as USS Idealia (SP-125)
Decommissioned:	November 1918 (est.)
Struck:	not known
Fate:	returned to her owner in 22 November 1918; fate unknown
General characteristics
Type:	Motorboat
Displacement:	52 tons
Length:	75' 8"
Beam:	13' 8"
Draft:	2' 10"
Propulsion:	motor
Speed:	14 k
Complement:	not known
Armament:	One 1-pounder gun

USS Idealia (SP-125) was a motor yacht acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was used as an armed patrol craft and patrolled the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Cape May, New Jersey, on the Delaware Bay. She was eventually reconfigured to her civilian condition by the Navy and returned to her owner.

Built in New Jersey

Idealia (SP-125), a motor yacht built in 1911 by the Elco Company, Bayonne, New Jersey, was acquired by the Navy and simultaneously commissioned 25 May 1917, Ensign Charles Clegg, USNRF, in command.

World War I service

Idealia was assigned to the 4th Naval District, based at Cape May, New Jersey, and operated as a harbor entrance patrol craft on the Delaware River and at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in Delaware Bay.

Decommissioning

She was returned to her owner, Ira D. Bertolet, Jr., of Philadelphia, 22 November 1918.

See also

• U.S. Navy
• World War I

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• USS Idealia (SP-125), 1917-1918. Originally the civilian motor boat Idealia (1911)
• NavSource Online: Idealia (SP 125)