USS Dawn (SP-26)
Note: This ship should not be confused with USS Dawn, a yawl ordered delivered to the United States Navy in 1917 but never commissioned into service.
The second USS Dawn was a motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a repair boat from 1917 to 1918.
Dawn was built in 1914 by Hehre and Aker at Clason Point in The Bronx, New York, as a private motorboat of the same name. The U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, W. T. Donnelley of Brooklyn, New York, on 19 June 1917 for World War I service as a repair boat, deeming her electric-drive propulsion plant suitable for furnishing electric power for lighting, machine shop work, or repairs. She was commissioned as USS Dawn on 19 June 1917, the day of her acquisition from Donnelley.
Dawn was assigned to the 2nd Naval District. Apparently she did not prove satisfactory in service, for a January 1918 U.S. Navy note commented that the Navy had decided to return her to her owner.
The Navy returned Dawn to Donnelley on 4 April 1918.
