USS ''Onyx'' (PYc-5), was a diesel coastal patrol yacht of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The ship was built in 1924 as ''Janey III'' by Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp. of Morris Heights, New York, and was subsequently renamed ''Rene'' and ''Pegasus''. Purchased by the Navy on 3 December 1940 from Clifford C. Hemphill, of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, converted to Navy use and named ''Onyx'', she was classified as a coastal yacht on 13 December 1940, and commissioned on 27 February 1941.

Service history

After conversion she departed New York for

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, arriving on 22 March. Sailing again, she reached

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

on 5 April to report for duty to Commandant 8th Naval District. ''Onyx'' performed services for ComEight as a coastal patrol vessel around the Gulf area until January 1942. On 22 January she departed

Key West, Florida Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Islan ...

to return to New York and arrived there on 31 January. ''Onyx'' was again ordered to report to the 8th Naval District at New Orleans and was underway by 13 March, arriving on 27 March. She resumed services and continued in this capacity until February 1944 when she was extensively damaged in a collision. Beyond economic repair, her ordnance was removed and she was placed out of commission, in service, retaining her name and designation, on 15 May 1944. She was designated a target vessel on 31 May, the same year, and made available for disposition on 31 October. Considered for conversion to a fuel barge in November, her conversion never materialized and ''Onyx'' was placed out of service on 1 February 1945 and returned to

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

on 2 February. She was struck from the U.S.

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

on 5 February 1945.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Onyx (PYc-5) Patrol vessels of the United States Navy World War II patrol vessels of the United States 1924 ships Maritime incidents in February 1944 Ships built in Morris Heights, Bronx