National Register of Historic Places

M/V COMMANDER

West Haverstraw, Rockland County, New York
Listed
September 26, 1984
Type
Structure
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
84002951

About this property

MV 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. 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. MV Commander was built as an excursion boat for service between Rockaway and Brooklyn, New York. She was leased to the United States Navy on 17 September 1917 and commissioned on 3 January 1918. 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. The Commander was decommissioned from the Navy on 5 February 1919 and returned to her civilian owner. The Commander spent the next 8 decades with Rockaway Boat Line, one of the longest uninterrupted services in excursion boat history in the United States. She is now operated in the Hudson River Highlands as an excursion vessel. 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. She was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. And in late 2019, the boat was listed for sale, and as of early 2020 she has not been sold.

Location

West Haverstraw, Rockland County, New York
41.23114, -73.97512

Categories

TRANSPORTATIONARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Rose, William H., House
Industrial
0.5 mi
JOHN D. MCKEAN (fireboat)
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0.7 mi
Stony Point Lighthouse
Early Republic
0.7 mi
Stony Point Battlefield
Listed
0.8 mi
Peck, Henry M., House
Industrial
1.5 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Stony Point (1779)
1779Revolutionary War
0.4 mi
Battle of Stony Point (NY)
1779Revolutionary War
0.5 mi
Battle of Stony Point
1779Revolutionary War
0.8 mi

Questions about this property

When was M/V COMMANDER listed on the National Register?

M/V COMMANDER was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 26, 1984.

What type of historic resource is M/V COMMANDER?

M/V COMMANDER is classified as a structure in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for M/V COMMANDER?

The period of significance for M/V COMMANDER is recorded as the industrial era.

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