USS Pinafore

USS Pinafore (SP-450) was a United States Navy launch in commission from 1902 to 1920.

History
United States
Name	USS Pinafore
Namesake	The fictional British Royal Navy ship HMS Pinafore in the 1878 Gilbert and Sullivan operetta H.M.S. Pinafore.
Builder	Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California
Completed	1902
Commissioned	1902
Stricken	1 July 1920
General characteristics
Type	Launch
Displacement	14.5 tons
Length	45 ft (14 m)
Beam	12 ft 3 in (3.73 m)
Speed	9 knots
Armament	None

The waterfront at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, sometime between 18 and 31 July 1913. Left to right are the dredger USS Dredger No. 2, the open lighters USS Lighter No. 29 (later USS YC-29) and USS Lighter No. 30 (later USS YC-30) on the seawall behind the dredger, and a small steam launch and the ferry launches USS Dart (later USS Dart (YFB-308)) and USS Pinafore (later designated SP-450). The shipyard's 40-ton drydock crane is to the right of the dredger. The gunboat USS Palos (Gunboat No. 16) (later USS Palos (PG-16)) is on the ways to the left of the cantilever crane and the oiler USS Kanawha (Oiler No. 1) (later USS Kanawha (AO-1)) is on the ways to the right of it.

Pinafore was built in 1902 by the Mare Island Navy Yard at Vallejo, California, as a ferry launch. The Mare Island Navy Yard used her as a construction and repair launch. Around the time the United States entered World War I in April 1917, she received the section patrol registry number SP-450.

Pinafore was stricken from the Navy List on 1 July 1920.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Pinafore (SP 450)