The first Griswold was a former name retained. The second Griswold is named for Ens. Don T. Griswold, Jr., born 8 July 1917 in Bryan, Tex. After attending Iowa State, Griswold joined the Naval Aviation Corps. During the crucial Battle of Midway, 6 June 1942, his scout-bomber scored a hit on a Japanese ship but paid dearly for it as he was hit by antiaircraft fire and plunged into the sea. Ens. Griswold was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
(SP-3138: dp. 133; l. 92'2"; b. 25'; dr. 5'6"; g. 10 k.)
The first Griswold (SP-3138), a wooden ferryboat, was built in 1899 by A. Nicholson, of Albany, N.Y., and was taken over by the Navy 12 August 1918, from her owner, East and West Shore Ferry & Transportation Co., New Haven, Conn. She commissioned 3 September 1918, at New York, Ens. W. J. Wilson, USNRF, in command.
Griswold was assigned to the 3d Naval District, and was used during her commissioned service as a ferry between the Bayonne, N.J., fuel depot and St. George, Staten Island, N.Y. She was detached from that duty 9 June 1919 and was simultaneously decommissioned and returned to her owner 20 June 1919.