Figure 1: Corsair (American Steam Yacht, 1899) photographed prior to her World War I naval service. This yacht was chartered from her owner, financier J.P. Morgan, and placed in commission on 15 May 1917 as USS Corsair (SP-159). Returned to Mr. Morgan on 9 June 1919, she again served in the Navy during World War II as USS Oceanographer (AGS-3). Courtesy of J.P. Morgan, 1930. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: Corsair (American Steam Yacht, 1899) photographed by Edwin Levick of New York City, prior to her World War I Naval service. Built in 1899 for financier J.P. Morgan, this yacht served as USS Corsair (SP-159) during World War I and as USS Oceanographer (AGS-3) during World War II. The original print is in National Archives' Record Group 19-LCM. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: USS Corsair (SP-159) fine screen halftone reproduction of a photograph taken while she was fitting out for World War I service, circa May 1917. Next ship outboard is USS Harvard (SP-209). Courtesy of Alfred Cellier, 1977. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: USS Californian sinking in the Bay of Biscay after striking a mine, 22 June 1918. Photographed from USS Corsair (SP-159). Collection of Paul F. Wangerin, 1975. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: USS Californian sinking in the Bay of Biscay on 22 June 1918, after hitting a mine. Photographed from USS Corsair (SP-159). Collection of Paul F. Wangerin, 1975. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: One of the ship's lifeboats from USS Californian comes alongside USS Corsair (SP-159), as Californian was being abandoned in the Bay of Biscay on 22 June 1918. She sank after hitting a mine. The original print bears the hand-written note: "S.S. Californian last boat." Collection of Paul F. Wangerin, 1975. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 7: Survivors of USS Californian on USS Corsair's quarterdeck, 22 June 1918, after being rescued from their sinking ship. Note the cork life vests worn by many of these men. Collection of Paul F. Wangerin, 1975. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 8: S.S. Dagfin (Norwegian Freighter, 1902) broken down several hundred miles off the French coast on 12 September 1918. Photographed from USS Corsair (SP-159), which towed her to port. She is flying distress signal flags: "N-I". Collection of Paul F. Wangerin, 1975. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 9: S.S. Dagfin (Norwegian Freighter, 1902) broken down several hundred miles off the French coast on 12 September 1918. Photographed from USS Corsair (SP-159), which towed her to port. The original print bears the hand-written note: "Norwegian tramp picked up by Paul (Wangerin, one of Corsair's officers) about 600 miles West of France, disabled 6 days, during War." Collection of Paul F. Wangerin, 1975. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 10: USS Corsair (SP-159) depth charge exploding astern of the ship, during operations at sea in 1918. Another depth charge is visible in the foreground. Collection of Paul F. Wangerin, 1975. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 11: Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels (standing to left of the ship's after conning station) talking with a group of officers while USS Corsair was at Plymouth, England, in May 1919. Standing at right are the ship's Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander William B. Porter, USNRF, and Rear Admiral Ralph Earle, USN. Note depth charge stowage racks in the foreground. Courtesy of Lieutenant C.C. Moore, USN, 1930. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 12: USS Corsair’s officers and crew posed on her after deck in mid-1917, soon after she entered Navy service. Officers are (left to right): unidentified; Lieutenant Commander William B. Porter, USNRF; Lieutenant Commander Theodore A. Kittinger, USN; Lieutenant Robert E. Tod, USNRF; Lieutenant (Junior Grade) John K. Hutchinson, USNRF; Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Roy J. McGuire, USNRF (? -- uniform is that of a warrant officer); and unidentified warrant officer. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 13: Members of USS Corsair’s crew posed on the after deckhouse in mid-1917, soon after she entered Navy service. These men are spelling out Corsair's name in semaphore ("wig-wag") code. Note the ship's after conning station in the center foreground, speaking tubes at the end of the deckhouse, and the after pair of 3-inch guns. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 14: Chief Petty Officer and another crew member on USS Corsair’s bridge, while at Brest, France, in 1918. Another US Navy converted yacht is in the background with a kite balloon overhead. Collection of Paul F. Wangerin, 1975. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 15: Corsair (American Steam Yacht, 1899) photographed circa the 1920s. Built in 1899 for financier J.P. Morgan, this yacht served as USS Corsair (SP-159) during World War I and as USS Oceanographer (AGS-3) during World War II. Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1975. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 16: US Coast and Geodetic Survey Oceanographer (OSS-26) underway, circa 1934, place unknown. Courtesy Jim Rogers. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 17: USS Oceanographer (AGS-3) moored to a pier, circa 1943, place unknown. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 18: USS Oceanographer (AGS-3) moored to a pier at San Pedro, California, 1944. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 19: USS Oceanographer (AGS-3) moored to a pier at San Pedro, California, 1944. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
The 1,600-ton steam yacht Corsair was built in 1899 for the famous financier J.P. Morgan by W. & A. Fletcher Company, at Hoboken, New Jersey. Since a “corsair” was a pirate or privateer, the name seemed extremely suitable for a man like J.P. Morgan. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, the US Navy quickly needed escort ships for convoy duty. Believing Corsair could be converted into a suitable patrol boat or ocean escort, the Navy chartered Morgan’s yacht in early May 1917 and commissioned the ship as USS Corsair (SP-159) on 15 May. The ship quickly was converted into a patrol boat and given four 3-inch guns and depth charges. Corsair was approximately 304 feet long and 33 feet wide, had a top speed of 19 knots, and had a crew of 146 officers and men.
Corsair left New York for France on 14 June 1917 as part of the escort group for the first contingent of American Expeditionary Force troops to be sent to Europe. The convoy arrived at St. Nazaire, France, on 27 June. Corsair quickly was assigned to anti-submarine and escort duties off the west coast of France. She escorted numerous vessels and rescued people from torpedoed or disabled merchant ships. On 17 October 1917, Corsair rescued a large number of survivors from the torpedoed US Army transport Antilles and then searched the area for the German submarine that attacked her. On 22 June 1918, Corsair rescued survivors from the American merchant ship Californian, which had struck an enemy mine. Both Antilles and Californian sank after Corsair rescued their survivors. But on 12 September 1918, Corsair assisted the disabled Norwegian steamer Dagfin and towed her to safety to a French port.
After the war ended on 11 November 1918, Corsair steamed to England and occasionally was used as the flagship for the Commander, US Naval Forces in European Waters. In May 1919, Corsair carried Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels and his staff from England to France and the ship returned to the United States later that month. After her arrival, USS Corsair was decommissioned and on 9 June 1919 the ship was returned to her original owner, J.P. Morgan.
After several more years of use as a private yacht, Corsair was purchased by the US Coast and Geodetic Survey and renamed Oceanographer. The ship was used as a scientific research vessel during the 1930s and into the early 1940s. But a few months after America entered World War II on 7 December 1941, the US Navy came calling once again. The Navy re-acquired the former yacht in April 1942, re-named her Natchez, and briefly re-classified her as a gunboat (PG-85). But something caused the Navy to change its mind about the elderly ship because her name and classification were changed once again. In August 1942, she was re-classified as a survey ship, was re-commissioned back into the Navy, but assumed an old name, USS Oceanographer (AGS-3).
Initially sent to Alaskan waters to perform surveys, Oceanographer seemed unable to cope with the harsh weather conditions in that part of the world. Therefore, she was sent to the south Pacific in March 1943. The ship remained there conducting extensive surveys until June 1944, when she returned to the United States for urgently needed repairs. But soon after arriving at San Pedro, California, the US Navy determined that the battered and now extremely elderly ex-yacht was not worth repairing. USS Oceanographer was decommissioned in September 1944 and was scrapped soon after that. Although she started her life as the expensive plaything for one of the world’s richest men, this tough ship proved to be a useful warship in one war and an excellent survey vessel in another. Few ships have had a career like that.
