USS Sultana (SP-134)

	USS Sultana during World War I
History
United States
Name	USS Sultana
Owner	Trenor Luther Park, New York City
Builder	Henderson and Robbins at Erie Basin, New York
Laid down	date unknown
Christened	as Sultana
Completed	1889
Acquired	4 May 1917 by the U.S. Navy under a free lease
Commissioned	27 May 1917
Decommissioned	circa 17 February 1919
Renamed	Retained original name
Stricken	17 February 1919
Homeport	Brest, France
Fate	Sultana was returned to Mrs. Harriman on 17 February 1919
General characteristics
Type	Yacht
Displacement	390 tons
Length	186'
Beam	27'
Draft	13'
Propulsion	Steam engine
Speed	12 knots
Complement	62
Armament	Four 3” guns; Two machine guns;

USS Sultana (SP-134) was a yacht acquired under a free lease by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was outfitted as a patrol craft and was assigned to escort duty in the North Atlantic Ocean. She served honorably—rescuing survivors adrift in the water and protecting cargo ships from submarine attack—and was returned to her owner at the close of the war.

Built in Erie Basin, New York[]

Sultana (SP-134) was built in 1889 by at . It was commissioned for Trenor Luther Park and his wife Julia Hunt Catlin, of New York City. They spent their honeymoon on it and crossed the Atlantic "about 75 times" as quoted from her memoires. "We cruised from the Windward Isles to South America. One time we cruised for a year and a half from the North Cape to the Suez, stopping wherever and for as long as we pleased." Trenor L. Park was a Harvard graduate, silk merchant and prominent yachtsman. After his death in 1907, it was sold to Mrs. E. H. Harriman of New York City, widow of the late railroad baron E. H. Harriman. On 4 May 1917, Mrs. Harriman loaned the steam yacht to the United States Navy under a free lease; the yacht was commissioned on 27 May 1917, Lt. E. G. Allen in command.

World War I service[]

Assigned to the North Atlantic Ocean[]

Sultana was fitted out at the New York Navy Yard, and she joined a special patrol force at Tompkinsville, New York, on 6 June. The force sailed for France on 9 June. On 4 July, she rescued 45 survivors of the American merchantman, Orleans, which has been torpedoed the day before; and she landed them at Brest, France, that evening.

From 4 July 1917 to 5 December 1918, Sultana was attached to the United States Patrol Squadron based at Brest and performed escort and patrol duty. On 5 December, after the war had ended, she headed for home via the Azores and Bermuda, and arrived at New York City on 28 December 1918.

Post-war decommissioning and disposal[]

Sultana was stripped of her military hardware, decommissioned, and returned to Mrs. Harriman on 17 February 1919 and struck from the Navy list.

References[]

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
USS Sultana (SP-134), 1917-1919. Previously the Civilian yacht Sultana