USS ''Katherine K.'' (SP-220) was a United States Navy patrol vessel and

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

in commission from 1917 to 1919.

History

''Katherine K.'' was built as a civilian tug of the same name in 1894 by M. D. Battomer at

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

, Maryland. The U.S. Navy acquired ''Katherine K.'' from her owner, Samuel H. Freas of Miami, Florida on 9 June 1917 for World War I service as a tug and patrol vessel. She was enrolled in the Naval Coast Defense Reserve on 16 June 1917, delivered to the Navy at

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

, Florida, on 10 July 1917, and commissioned as USS ''Katherine K.'' (SP-220) on 7 September 1917. Assigned as a section patrol ship to the 7th Naval District, ''Katherine K.'' patrolled the waters in and around Key West and served as a harbor tug and target-towing tug during World War I. After the war, she was ordered transferred to the United States Coast Guard on 17 March 1919, but this transfer was canceled and on 21 May 1919 she was placed on the list of ships for sale by the Navy. Eugene E. Bates of Key West bought ''Katherine K.'', but she was swept away in the

1919 Florida Keys hurricane The 1919 Florida Keys hurricane (also known as the 1919 Key West hurricane) was a massive and damaging tropical cyclone that swept across areas of the northern Caribbean Sea and the United States Gulf Coast in September 1919. Remaining ...

at Key West on 9–10 September 1919 before the Navy could deliver her to Bates.

References

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Department of the Navy: Navy History and Heritage Command: Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS ''Katherine K'' (SP-220), 1917-1919. Previously the civilian harbor tug ''Katherine K'' (1894)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katherine K. (Sp-220) Tugs of the United States Navy World War I auxiliary ships of the United States Patrol vessels of the United States World War I patrol vessels of the United States Ships built in Baltimore 1894 ships Maritime incidents in 1919 Shipwrecks of the Florida Keys