The M/V Commander is a historic motor vessel built in 1917 and designed by Beele Wallace Co. of Morehead City, North Carolina, United States. She is homeported at the Haverstraw Marina in West Haverstraw, Rockland County, New York.[2] She is a wooden 275-passenger excursion boat approximately 60 feet in length, 25 feet in breadth (18.3 m × 7.6 m), and weighing 70 tons.[3] MV Commander was built as an excursion boat for service between Rockaway and Brooklyn, New York.[4]


She was leased to the United States Navy on 17 September 1917 and commissioned on 3 January 1918.[5] She operated around the New York Navy Yard during World War I to outfit submarine chasers and tow manned observation balloons off the entrances of New York Harbor.[4] The Commander was decommissioned from the Navy on 5 February 1919 and returned to her civilian owner.[5]

The M/V Commander spent the next 8 decades with Rockaway Boat Line, one of the longest uninterrupted services in excursion boat history in the United States.[4] She is now operated in the Hudson River Highlands as an excursion vessel.[4] The Commander is the only former U.S. Naval vessel of World War I vintage still operating under her own motor power and in its original condition.[4]

She was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.[1]

And in late 2019, the boat was listed for sale, and as of early 2020 she has not been sold.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "Hudson Highlands Cruises". Retrieved 2010-11-06.
  3. ^ Neil G. Larson (July 1984). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: M/V Commander". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2010-02-20. See also: "Accompanying four photos".
  4. ^ a b c d e "Historic Naval Ships Visitors Guide - MV Commander". archive.hnsa.org. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
  5. ^ a b "Commander". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 2010-12-07. Retrieved 2010-11-04.
  6. ^ "Used 1917 Commander SP-1247, 10596 Verplanck - Boat Trader". www.boattrader.com. Retrieved 2020-04-17.