USS Raboco (SP-310) was an armed motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919.

History
United States
NameUSS Raboco
NamesakePrevious name retained
BuilderRacine Boat Company, Racine, Wisconsin
Completed1913
Acquired19 May 1917
Commissioned5 July or 7 July 1917[1]
FateReturned to owner 7 January 1919
NotesOperated as civilian motorboat Raboco 1913 to 1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
TypePatrol vessel
Tonnage39 tons
Length65 ft (20 m)
Beam14 ft (4.3 m)
Draft3 ft 6 in (1.07 m)
Speed9 knots
Complement9

Raboco was built as a civilian motorboat of the same name in 1913 by the Racine Boat Company at Racine, Wisconsin. The U.S. Navy acquired Raboco on a free lease from her owner, Harry C. Good of Moline, Illinois, on 19 May 1917 for World War I service as a patrol vessel. Sources agree that she was commissioned as USS Raboco (SP-310) on 5 July 1917;[2] however, one source also states that she was delivered to the Navy on 7 July 1917,[3] raising the possibility that 7 July might have been her true commissioning date.

For the rest of World War I, Raboco served on the Great Lakes with the coastal defense forces of the 9th, 10th, and 11th Naval Districts—at the time a single administrative entity made up of the 9th Naval District, 10th Naval District, and 11th Naval District—operating principally between Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Naval Training Station Great Lakes at North Chicago, Illinois.

Raboco was decommissioned soon after the end of the war and returned to her owner on 7 January 1919.

Notes

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  1. ^ According to the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/r1/raboco.htm), Raboco was commissioned in the U.S. Navy on 5 July 1917 but not delivered to the U.S. Navy until 7 July, requiring a highly unusual and unlikely commissioning two days prior to delivery; NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170310.htm) states that she was commissioned on 5 July 1917 without mentioning 7 July 1917 or any delivery date. It remains an open question as to whether the boat was delivered on 5 July and commissioned on 7 July, or commissioned on 5 July and delivered on a previous, unreported date.
  2. ^ Per both the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/r1/raboco.htm), and NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170310.htm).
  3. ^ According to the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/r1/raboco.htm), Raboco was commissioned in the U.S. Navy on 5 July 1917 but not delivered to the U.S. Navy until 7 July, requiring a highly unusual and unlikely commissioning two days prior to delivery; NavSource Online (at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170310.htm) states that she was commissioned on 5 July 1917 without mentioning 7 July 1917 or any delivery date.

References

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