USS Zara (SP-133)

Steam yacht Zara prior to her U.S. Navy service
History
United States
Name	USS Zara
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Fleming and Ferguson, Paisley, Scotland, United Kingdom
Completed	1891
Acquired	27 April 1917
Commissioned	22 May 1917
Decommissioned	13 April 1918
Stricken	1 May 1918
Fate	Sold 13 September 1919
Notes	Operated as private yacht Solgar and Zara 1891-1917
General characteristics
Type	Armed yacht
Tonnage	184 tons (gross)
Length	152 ft 0 in (46.33 m)
Beam	21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
Draft	11 ft 0 in (3.35 m) aft
Propulsion	Steam
Speed	10 knots
Complement	62
Armament	2 × 6-pounder guns 2 × machine guns

USS Zara (SP-133) was an armed yacht that served in the United States Navy from 1917 to 1919.

Zara was a steam yacht built in 1891 in the United Kingdom by Fleming and Ferguson at Paisley, Scotland. Originally named Solgar, she had been renamed by the time the U.S. Navy purchased her from Mr. David H. Friedman of New York, New York, on 27 April 1917 for service in World War I, designated her SP-133, and commissioned her at New York City on 22 May 1917.

Assigned to the section patrol in the 3rd Naval District, Zara cruised the waters of Long Island Sound for almost a year. She was decommissioned on 13 April 1918 and put up for sale.

Though her name was struck from the Navy List on 1 May 1918, Zara was retained by the Navy to serve as guard vessel at Whitestone, Queens, New York, near the western entrance to Long Island Sound.

Zara finally was sold on 13 September 1919 to an unrecorded buyer

References[]

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Zara (Steam Yacht, 1891). Previously named Solgar. Was USS Zara (SP-133) in 1917-1919
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Zara (SP 133)