 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2019) |
| Ships of the United States Navy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ships in current service | |
| Ships grouped alphabetically | |
| Ships grouped by type | |
A Section Patrol Craft was a civilian vessel registered by the United States Navy for potential wartime service before, during, and shortly after World War I.
In 1916, with World War I raging abroad, the U.S. Navy began a registry of privately owned pleasure craft and yachts that were available for patrol service in the event the United States was drawn into the conflict, which it eventually entered on 6 April 1917. Naval Registry Identification Numbers were assigned in a "Section Patrol" series beginning with SP-1 and ultimately extending to well over 4000.
As the registration process continued, other types of ships and craft (such as cargo ships, tankers, and passenger ships) were included which were not suited or intended for patrol duty and for which the "Section Patrol" designation was clearly inappropriate, and these were generally given "Identification" ("ID") numbers in the same series as the "SP" numbers. In addition, some vessels that were numbered with an "SP" prefix before 1918 later had that prefix changed to "ID". Many of the ships and craft assigned SP or ID numbers had no Navy service, while others that were acquired and employed by the Navy received no numbers.
The registry, and the SP/ID number series, was continued at least into the early 1920s, with new numbers being assigned to ships completed or examined after World War I ended on 11 November 1918. The latter category included some ships that served in the Navy without SP or ID numbers between 1917 and 1919.
The SP and ID registry numbers were not U.S. Navy "hull numbers," which would not be formally adopted until 17 July 1920. However, like hull numbers, the SP and ID numbers were used for record-keeping purposes and were often painted on the exterior of vessels (especially patrol types) to facilitate identification. They can therefore be considered precursors of the U.S. Navy hull number system instituted in July 1920 and still in use today. At least 67 vessels with ID / SP numbers were later given modern hull symbols, with a few (at least 7) retaining their ID or SP numbers under the new system.
Incomplete listing of civilian boats and ships commissioned during World War I for use as section patrol (SP) craft and civilian cargo ships, tankers, transports, etc., commissioned for U.S. Navy use during World War and given non-"SP" identification numbers (ID) in the "SP" numbering series.
Many of these ships would be later sunk during World War II while in commercial service. Two would be deliberately sunk as Mulberry harbor breakwaters during the invasion of Normandy. Only sinkings while in US Navy service with an ID number are listed.
USS Sea Hawk (SP-2365) was an armed motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919.
USS Penobscot (SP-982/YT-42/YTB-42) was a commercial harbor tugboat purchased by the U.S. Navy at the start of World War I. Penobscot performed her towing services for the 5th Naval District on the U.S. East Coast, and continued to do so for the 3rd Naval District through the end of World War II. She was finally retired from Navy service in 1947.
SS Edward Luckenbach was the first of five new cargo ships to be built for the Luckenbach Steamship Company by Fore River Shipbuilding Corporation. The ship was launched in September 1916, delivered in November and briefly operated as such before being requisitioned for World War I service. The ship was one of the cargo vessels in the first large convoy transporting U.S. Army forces to France. After that convoy the ship served as a U.S. Army Chartered Transport (USACT) until converted by the Army to a troop ship and turned over to the Navy a few months before the war's end. The Navy commissioned the ship as USS Edward Luckenbach assigning the miscellaneous identification number ID-1662 in August 1918. The transport made one wartime voyage with continued voyages returning the Army to the U.S. until August 1919.
USS F. J. Luckenbach (ID-2160) was a cargo ship and troop transport that served in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1919. SS F. J. Luckenbach was built as a commercial cargo ship at Quincy, Massachusetts, by Fore River Shipbuilding Corporation for Luckenbach Steamship Company of New York City. Launched on 15 September 1917, she was delivered to Luckenbach on 28 November 1917. She then came under the control of the United States Shipping Board. The Shipping Board transferred her to the U.S. Navy for World War I service on 9 January 1918. Assigned Identification Number 2160, she was commissioned the same day as USS F. J. Luckenbach.
USS Apache (SP-729) was the first to be delivered of eight motor boats built by Herreshoff Manufacturing Company at Bristol, Rhode Island ordered and financed by members of the Eastern Yacht Club of Marblehead, Massachusetts. The boats were designed by Albert Loring Swasey and Nathanael Greene Herreshoff with the intention that the boats be used by the Navy as patrol craft and built with Navy approval of the design. Apache, as were the other boats, bore names under construction chosen by the owners and were then given the Section Patrol numbers on Navy acceptance and activation. The names were dropped after a period and all the boats then bore only the S.P. numbers.
USS Dreadnaught (ID-1951), later YT-534 and YNG-21, was a United States Navy tug that was in service from 1918 to 1944.
USS Herreshoff No. 308 (SP-2232), also written Herreshoff #308, was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1918 to 1923.
USS Herreshoff No. 321 (SP-2235), also written Herreshoff #321, was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1918 to 1921.
USS Herreshoff No. 322 (SP-2373), also written Herreshoff #322, was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1918 to 1919.
The following index is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Wikipedia's articles on recreational dive sites. The level of coverage may vary:
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Naval History and Heritage Command . 
