USS Seatag

Seatag as a civilian motorboat, photographed in a boat shed probably around the time of her completion in 1917.
History
United States
Name	USS Seatag or Sea Tag
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Great Lakes Boatbuilding Corporation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Completed	1917
Acquired	9 July 1917
Commissioned	1 August 1917
Decommissioned	18 November 1918
Fate	Returned to owner 7 March 1919
Notes	Operated as private motorboat Seatag or Sea Tag in 1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Length	51 ft (16 m)
Beam	10 ft 3 in (3.12 m)
Draft	2 ft 5 in (0.74 m)
Speed	22 miles per hour [1]
Complement	10
Armament	1 × 1-pounder gun

USS Seatag (SP-505), also spelled Sea Tag, was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.

Seatag was built in 1917 as a private motorboat of the same name by the Great Lakes Boatbuilding Corporation at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. On 9 July 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her under a free lease from her owner, Donald Ryerson of Chicago, Illinois, for use as a section patrol vessel during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Seatag or Sea Tag (SP-505) on 1 August 1917.

Seatag served on the Great Lakes for the rest of World War I. She served primarily on the Detroit River and St. Clair River patrols until 4 October 1918.

Seatag was decommissioned on 18 November 1918, a week after the end of World War I. She was returned to Ryerson on 7 March 1919.

Notes

1. The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s8/seatag.htm and NavSource Online at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170505.htm give Seatag's speed as 22 miles per hour, implying statute miles per hour, an unusual unit of measure for the speed of a watercraft. It is possible that her speed actually was 22 knots. If 22 statute miles per hour is accurate, the equivalent in knots is 19.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.
• Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Sea Tag (American Motor Boat, 1917). Served as USS Sea Tag (SP-505) in 1917-1919 Name also spelled Seatag
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Seatag (SP 505)