USS Hunch

History
United States
Name	USS Hunch
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Charles L. Seabury Company and Gas Engine and Power Company, Morris Heights, the Bronx, New York
Completed	1907
Acquired	August 1917
Commissioned	1917
Fate	Returned to owner 1917 [1] or 1918 [2]
Notes	Operated as private motorboat Hunch 1907-1917 and from 1917 or 1918
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Length	35 ft 2 in (10.72 m)
Beam	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Draft	2 ft 6 in (0.76 m)
Speed	20 knots

USS Hunch (SP-1197) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to possibly 1918.

Hunch was built as a private motorboat of the same name in 1907 by the Charles L. Seabury Company and the Gas Engine and Power Company at Morris Heights in the Bronx, New York. In August 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, R. A. Alger of Detroit, Michigan, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. Ensign P. L. Emerson, USNRF, was assigned as her first commanding officer.

Sources differ on Hunch's career. According to one source, ^[3] she was returned to Alger in 1917 after little or no Navy service. According to others, ^[4] she was assigned as USS Hunch (SP-1197) to patrol duties in the 9th, 10th, and 11th Naval Districts - at the time a single administrative entity formed by the almagamation of the 9th Naval District, 10th Naval District, and 11th Naval District - and served as a patrol boat on the Detroit River until returned to Alger in 1918.

Notes

1. SP-1197Hunch at Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships -- Listed by Hull Number "SP" #s and "ID" #s -- World War I Era Patrol Vessels and other Acquired Ships and Craft numbered from SP-1100 through SP-1199.
2. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h9/hunch.htm and NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Hunch (SP 1197).
3. SP-1197Hunch at Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships -- Listed by Hull Number "SP" #s and "ID" #s -- World War I Era Patrol Vessels and other Acquired Ships and Craft numbered from SP-1100 through SP-1199.
4. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h9/hunch.htm and NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Hunch (SP 1197).

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.
• SP-1197Hunch at Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships -- Listed by Hull Number "SP" #s and "ID" #s -- World War I Era Patrol Vessels and other Acquired Ships and Craft numbered from SP-1100 through SP-1199
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Hunch (SP 1197)