Helori | Classic Yacht Register

Historical Summary:

In 1905, Norman J. (N.J.) Blanchard (1885-1954) teamed up with his friends, Dean and Lloyd Johnson, to open Johnson Bros. & Blanchard boatyard at the former oxbow of the Duwamish River, near what is now South Hidalgo Street. It was from this yard that the 100-foot motor yacht Helori was launched in 1911 for O.O. Denny. Designed by N.J.'s friend, L.E. (Ted) Geary, it was at that time the largest motor yacht built on the west coast.

USS Helori as a patrol craft in WWI [U.S. Navy photo - http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-h/sp181.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20272598]

Wartime Use:

The U.S. Navy purchased Helori from her owner, either Omar J. Humphrey or H. G. Kenney of Seattle, on 23 April 1917 for World War I service as a patrol vessel. She was commissioned as USS Helori (SP-181) on 21 May 1917 at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington.

Assigned to the 13th Naval District, Helori was the only section patrol boat on the United States West Coast fitted with the 220-hp standard gasoline engine adopted for use in World War I submarine chasers, and she operated out of Puget Sound Navy Yard training engine room crews for submarine chasers and performing guardship duty. She made frequent trips to and from Bremerton and Seattle.

In 1920, Helori was reclassified from section patrol craft to district patrol craft and was redesignated YP-181.

Helori was decommissioned in March 1922 and sold to the Crowley Launch and Tugboat Company of San Francisco, on 17 September 1925.