USS Betty Jane I

Betty Jane I in an undated photograph which may have been taken sometime between 1913 and 1917 when she was still a private motorboat or at the time of her inspection by the 6th Naval District on 17 September 1918, a little over a year after she entered United States Navy service.
History
United States
Name	USS Betty Jane I
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Electric Launch Company (ELCO), Bayonne, New Jersey
Completed	1913
Acquired	4 September 1917
Commissioned	4 September 1917
Stricken	17 January 1919
Fate	Returned to owner 17 January 1919
Notes	Operated as civilian motorboat Betty Jane I 1913-1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Length	36 ft 0 in (10.97 m)
Beam	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Draft	2 ft 4 in (0.71 m) aft
Speed	24 knots

USS Betty Jane I (ID-3458), also listed as SP-3458, was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Betty Jane I was built in 1913 as a private motorboat of the same name by the Electric Launch Company (ELCO) at Bayonne, New Jersey. On 4 September 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her under a free lease from her owner, Percy Ballentyne of South Montrose, Pennsylvania, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned later that day as USS Betty Jane I.

Assigned to the 6th Naval District, Betty Jane I patrolled the southeastern coast of the United States for the rest of World War I. In September 1918, she received a registration number, although sources disagree on whether this was the section patrol number SP-3458^[1] or the naval registry identification number ID-3458.^[2]

Betty Jane I was stricken from the Navy Directory on 17 January 1919 and the Navy returned her to Ballentyne the same day.

Notes

1. NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive betty Jane I (SP 3458).
2. Dictionary of American naval Fighting Ships at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b6/betty-jane1-i.htm and Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Betty Jane I (American Motor Boat, 1913). Served as USS Betty Jane I (ID # 3458) in 1917–1919.

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 Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Betty Jane I (American Motor Boat, 1913). Served as USS Betty Jane I (ID # 3458) in 1917–1919
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive betty Jane I (SP 3458)