USS Nahma (SP-771)
Nahma as a private yacht prior to World War I.
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Nahma |
Owner | |
Builder | Clydebank Engine and Shipbuilding Company, Glasgow, Scotland[1] |
Launched | 14 February 1897 |
In service | 1897–1917; 1919–1923 |
Fate |
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United States NavyUnited States | |
Name | USS Nahma |
Namesake | Previous name retained |
Acquired | 21 June 1917 |
Commissioned | 27 August 1917 |
Decommissioned | 19 July 1919 |
Fate | Returned to owner 19 July 1919 |
United Kingdom | |
Name | Istar |
Owner |
|
Fate |
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General characteristics (as U.S. Navy patrol vessel) | |
Displacement | 2,900 long tons (2,947 t) |
Length | 319 ft (97 m) |
Beam | 36 ft 6 in (11.13 m) |
Draft | 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m) |
Speed | 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
Complement | 162 |
Armament |
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USS Nahma (SP-771) was a
After her U.S. Navy service, Nahma returned to private ownership. Renamed Istar, she operated as a
Construction and early career
Nahma was built by the
Nahma was the
The
Soon after
On 6 October 1917, Nahma was involved in a series of friendly fire incidents. At 19:00 on 5 October, she was on patrol in the Atlantic Ocean west of Gibraltar when she received a radio report of an Imperial German Navy submarine in the vicinity and proceeded toward its reported position. At 02:00 on 6 October she sighted a flash ahead which resembled the flash of a gun. At 02:30 she sighted the Italian cargo ship SS Bologna, followed by two submarines. Bologna was on a voyage from Bermuda to Gibraltar as part of a convoy that was running five days behind schedule, and the submarines were the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) submarines H6 and H8, two of the three submarines serving as escorts for the convoy. The third escorting submarine had become separated from the convoy in fog after the reported sighting of a German submarine.[4]
Having earlier received a report of enemy submarine activity in the area and seen what appeared to be a flash of gunfire, Nahma′s crew assumed that H6 and H8 were German submarines attacking Bologna. She opened gunfire, firing two rounds at the leading submarine, H8, neither of which hit, and made a recognition signal challenge. When H8 did not respond, she fired two more rounds, then ceased fire when H8 responded correctly to the challenge. Nahma then approached H6 and observed members of H6′s crew running aft along her deck. They were going to hoist the Italian colors, but Nahma assumed they were going to man H6′s deck gun and fired one round. It hit H6′s conning tower, killing two men and wounding seven others, two of whom later died of their wounds. Nahma then identified H6 as friendly, ceased fire, and stood by to assist H6 for the remainder of the night.[4]
At about 05:00 on 6 October 1917, the British torpedo boat HMS TB 93 arrived on the scene and accidentally fired one round toward Nahma. It missed, and Nahma headed toward the flash. At 05:20 she sighted TB 93 and mistook her for a German submarine. She opened gunfire, firing two rounds at TB 93 before identifying her as friendly. On the morning of 6 October, Nahma escorted H6 and H8 to Gibraltar.[4]
Nahma continued her escort duties through the
Later career
In 1923, Goelet sold Nahma to Jeremiah Brown and Company, which renamed her Istar[2] and registered her under the British flag. Later in 1923, British Army Lieutenant Colonel George Ernest Millner, DSO, OBE, MC, acquired her.[2] During the years of Prohibition in the United States, she became part of the illicit rum running fleet off the Virginia Capes, smuggling Scotch whisky into the United States on behalf of Sir Brodrick Hartwell[5][6] from 1923 to 1925.[2]
In 1925, Istar was sold to Royal Navy Commander C. L. Kerr, DSO, and Robin Thynne of Southampton, England.[2] In 1927, she again was sold, to Alfred Ehrenreich of Marine Products in Southampton, who converted her for use as a shark-processing factory ship.[5][2]
By March 1931, Istar had been laid up at
References
- ^ "Clydebank Engineering and Shipbuilding Co". Grace's Guide. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
- ISBN 9780828600408.
- ^ a b c Doughty, Leonard, Jr., Lieutenant Commander, "Mistaken Attacks in the World War," Proceedings, October 1934.
- ^ ISBN 9780828600408.
- ^ "Director Visiting Rum Fleet". The Pittsburgh Gazette Times. 20 April 1923. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- ^ Shipwreck Database (Compiled from: Levine 1986; Turner 1988). "Underwater Heritage: Shipwreck Database" (PDF). South African Heritage Resources Agency, (SAHRA). Retrieved 27 August 2017.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- Photo gallery of USS Nahma at NavSource Naval History
- Photo gallery at Naval Historical Center
- YouTube wreck dive video