USS Tillamook (SP-269)

Tillamook as a civilian motorboat or yacht sometime between 1911 and 1917, prior to her U.S. Navy service.
History
United States
Name:	USS Tillamook (1917-1918) USS SP-269
Namesake:	Tillamook, her previous name retained, was for the Tillamook, a large and prominent Coast Salish Native American tribe which occupied the shores of Tillamook Bay and its tributary rivers in northwestern Oregon SP-269 was her section patrol number
Builder:	Matthews Boat Company, Port Clinton, Ohio
Completed:	1911
Acquired:	14 May 1917
Commissioned:	1 June 1917
Renamed:	USS SP-269 either on 1 June 1917[1] or in early 1918[2]
Fate:	Sold 20 November 1919
Notes:	Operated as civilian motorboat or yacht Tillamook 1911-1917
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol vessel
Tonnage:	24 gross tons
Length:	59 ft 0 in (17.98 m)
Beam:	12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
Draft:	4 ft 9 in (1.45 m)
Speed:	9.5 knots
Complement:	9
Armament:	1 × 3-pounder gun 2 × machine guns

The second USS Tillamook (SP-269), later USS SP-269, was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Tillamook was built as a civilian motorboat or motor yacht of the same name in 1911 by the Matthews Boat Company at Port Clinton, Ohio. The U.S. Navy purchased her from her owner, Mr. D. C. Whitney of Detroit, Michigan, on 14 May 1917 for World War I service as a patrol vessel. She was commissioned on 1 June 1917 as USS Tillamook (SP-269), although some sources claim that she was commissioned as USS SP-269 rather than under her civilian name.^[3]

Assigned to the 9th Naval District—at the time functioning as part of a single administrative entity known as the "9th, 10th, and 11 Naval Districts" -- Tillamook patrolled the waters of Lake Michigan. According to some sources her name change to USS SP-269 occurred during this time, early in 1918.^[4] Whenever her name change occurred, it was to avoid confusion between her and the tug USS Tillamook (Tug No. 16), which was in commission as the same time. Despite her name change, official papers often continued to refer to her as Tillamook (SP-269), particularly those regarding her disposal in 1919.

SP-269 remained active in the 9th Naval District until the autumn of 1919. She was sold to Mr. George Jerome of Detroit on 20 November 1919.

Notes

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Department of the Navy: Navy History and Heritage Command: Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Tillamook (American Motor Boat, 1911). Served in 1917-1919 as USS Tillamook (SP-269) and USS SP-269
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: SP-269 ex-Tillamook (SP 269)