USS Oneida (SP-432)

The Oneida, in the July 1916 issue of the yachting journal The Rudder
History
Name:	Oneida
Builder:	Harlan and Hollingsworth Company, Wilmington, Delaware
Completed:	1897
Out of service:	1940
Fate:	Scrap
General characteristics
Length:	200 ft (61 m)

USS Oneida (SP-432) was the proposed name and designation of an American steam yacht considered for use as a section patrol craft during World War I. In July 1917 the seagoing yacht was ordered taken by the U.S. Navy for service in international waters, but the yacht was never acquired and instead remained in private hands.

It was the second of two yachts named Oneida by owner Elias Cornelius Benedict, a prominent New York City banker and one of the world's leading yachtsman. In 1922, after Benedict's death, the Oneida was purchased by publisher William Randolph Hearst. In November 1924 the yacht was associated with the mysterious death of American film producer Thomas H. Ince, a scandal that became part of early Hollywood lore.

The Oneida was sold by Hearst sometime after 1927. In 1932 the yacht was in use as a ferry vessel on Lake Champlain, based at Burlington, Vermont. In 1940, the rusty hull of the Oneida was purchased as scrap by Canada, for conversion into munitions for World War II.

Designed by Albert S. Cheseborough, the Oneida was a 552 gross ton steam yacht built in 1897 by the Harlan and Hollingsworth Company of Wilmington, Delaware. The yacht measured 200 feet overall, with a breadth of 24 feet and a draught of 11.5 feet.

The yacht was originally owned by George William Childs Drexel (1868–1944), son of Anthony Joseph Drexel, and named the Alcedo. It was sold to John Hays Hammond, who renamed it the Atreus, in 1912. In March 1913 Hammond sold the yacht to Commodore E. C. Benedict for a reported $100,000.

"Benedict has decided to re-christen the yacht Oneida, which is the name of a smaller yacht which he also possesses," reported The New York Times. "He will rename the latter." The old Oneida was renamed Adelante and converted into a tow vessel, and the new Oneida became a fixture in the yachting centers of the East Coast.