From: Dictionary of American Fighting Ships

Title and hero of a poem by Longfellow; a famous Mohawk chieftain.

(SP - 183; dp. 89; l. 98'; b. 17'; dr. 5'; s. 10 k.; a. 1 3-pdr., 1 1-pdr.)

Hiawatha, a steam yacht, was built as Donaire by Lawley & Sons, Boston, Mass., in 1914. She was acquired from her owner, A. W. Stanley, of Miami, Fla., and commissioned 10 May 1917 at Norfolk Navy Yard.

Assigned to the 5th Naval District, Hiawatha operated in Hampton Roads and vicinity as a patrol craft and dispatch boat during the First World War. After the war she remained inactive in Norfolk until loaned to the Maryland State Conservation Commission 11 December 1919 to 16 March 1920. She was subsequently sold to the Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 1 October 1920, and was taken to Alaska for use in the administration of Alaskan National Forests.

Transcribed by Yves HUBERT (hubertypc@aol.com)