USS Nokomis (SP-609) was a yacht purchased by the U.S. Navy during World War I. The yacht was purchased from Horace E. Dodge of Detroit, Michigan after he had the yacht luxuriously fitted out but before he could make use of his second Nokomis — the first having already gone into service.
She was outfitted as a patrol craft with 3-inch guns, and assigned to protect commercial shipping in the North Atlantic Ocean from German submarines and Q-ships. Post-war she was returned to the U.S. and decommissioned. Subsequently, she was placed back into service as a Navy survey vessel, a role she maintained for nearly two decades before again being decommissioned and struck from the Navy List in 1938.
The vessel was loaned to the Coast Guard, which assigned the name Bodkin, and was undergoing conversion to a sub chaser in 1943 until the submarine threat lessened and the conversion was stopped. The hulk was towed to Mallows Bay on Maryland's shore of the Potomac River and scrapped in June 1944. The former Nokomis was the only warship among the hulks of burned and salvaged World War I commercial vessels at the "graveyard" and the last to be scrapped there.
Yacht
Nokomis II was a steam yacht designed by Henry J. Gielow of Gielow & Orr built as hull 360 by Pusey & Jones, Wilmington, Delaware for Horace E. Dodge of Detroit, Michigan launched 27 December 1916. Trials took place 28 April 1917. Though purchased by the Navy before significant operation as a private yacht the vessel was briefly assigned the official number 214877.
Confusion with Nokomis (1914) This was the second yacht of the name and the second designed by Gielow for Dodge. The first Nokomis (1914), frequently confused with the second, was , length overall, length between perpendiculars, with official number 212143 and signal letters LDKQ and built by Robins Dry Dock & Repair Company, Brooklyn, New York. The first Nokomis was purchased by the Navy for $140,000 from Dodge and delivered to the Navy on 9 May 1917. This vessel was .
It is not unusual to see the 1914 build date associated with the specific characteristics of the 1916 Nokomis II. This is compounded by the fact that the unique official number, 214877 in the case of Nokomis II, usually for the entire lifetime of a vessel, through name and ownership changes, "died" with naval service. Confusion may be aided by the fact the Navy, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships for example, refers to the yacht Nokomis II as the Navy's Nokomis I. The first Nokomis was still in the register as Dupont, owned by the state or Maryland, as late as 1961.
Construction
Nokomis II was fitted out with special interior design for each space in luxurious style and accepted by Dodge in June 1917. Dodge had specified that the new yacht be fully sea going and incorporate the latest naval architecture and design as well as that all the interior decor and furnishings be specially designed to artistically harmonize without being ornate. The yacht was acquired by the Navy before completion and the only chance Dodge had to sail Nokomis was to deliver the vessel to the Navy.
The as built specifications closely match the Navy's in the 1918 document that is the basis for many listed in "General Characteristics" with the additions of a waterline length of and depth of hold of .
The yacht was flush decked with a steel hull. A steel deck house, in length and headroom, was covered by a shade deck above extending the width of the ship that provided a promenade. The forward portion of the deck house contained a pantry on the starboard side with staterooms for the stewards on the port side. Aft was an long, wide dining room extending to the machinery casing amidships. Flanking that casing to starboard was a vestibule to the main deck, toilet, and barber shop. Flanking to port were staterooms for engineers and a laundry. Aft of the boiler casing were the owner's stateroom and a by living room, with a vestibule from which stairs led below to guest's quarters, with a sheltered quarter deck to the stern.
On the upper deck were two structures. The forward house, by , contained the captain's quarters forward with a radio room and operator's quarters aft. Aft of the funnel was a by house with the forward containing a gymnasium and the remaining part aft a sitting room with sofa. From photographs the open bridge was atop the forward house.