 USS Shark while hauled out of the water sometime between 1917 and 1919. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | USS Shark |
| Namesake: | The shark (previous name retained) |
| Completed: | 1909 |
| Acquired: | 17 May 1917 |
| Commissioned: | 24 May 1917 |
| Struck: | 16 September 1919 |
| Fate: | Sold 20 October 1919 |
| Notes: | Operated as civilian motorboat Ildico IV [1] and Shark 1909-1917 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Patrol vessel |
| Tonnage: | 30 tons |
| Length: | 74 ft 4 in (22.66 m) |
| Beam: | 12 ft 5 in (3.78 m) |
| Draft: | 4 ft 2 in (1.27 m) |
| Speed: | 12 knots |
| Complement: | 12 |
| Armament: |
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The fourth USS Shark (SP-534) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most capable navy in the world and it has been estimated that in terms of tonnage of its active battle fleet alone, it is larger than the next 13 navies combined, which includes 11 U.S. allies or partner nations. with the highest combined battle fleet tonnage and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, and two new carriers under construction. With 319,421 personnel on active duty and 99,616 in the Ready Reserve, the Navy is the third largest of the service branches. It has 282 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of March 2018, making it the second-largest air force in the world, after the United States Air Force.
Shark was built as the civilian motorboat Ildico IV [2] in 1909 at South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. She later was renamed Shark. The U.S. Navy purchased Shark from her owner, Louis Herzog of New York City, on 17 May 1917 for World War I service as a patrol vessel. She was commissioned on 24 May 1917 as USS Shark (SP-534).
In general, a civilian is "a person who is not a member of the military or of a police or firefighting force". The definition distinguishes from persons whose duties involves risking their lives to protect the public at large from hazardous situations such as terrorism, riots, conflagrations, or wars. It also does not include "criminals" in the category, as authorities and the media wants to distinguish between those who are law-abiding and those who are not.
A motorboat, speedboat, or powerboat is a boat which is powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gearbox and the propeller in one portable unit.
South Yarmouth is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Yarmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,092 at the 2010 census, the most of the three CDPs in Yarmouth.
Assigned to section patrol duty in the 1st Naval District in northern New England, Shark conducted harbor patrols there for the rest of World War I and for a few months after the end of the war.
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.
New England is a geographical and cultural region composed of six states of the northeastern United States: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north, respectively. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east and southeast, and Long Island Sound is to the south. Boston is New England's largest city as well as the capital of Massachusetts. The largest metropolitan area is Greater Boston with nearly a third of the entire region's population, which also includes Worcester, Massachusetts, Manchester, New Hampshire, and Providence, Rhode Island.
A harbor or harbour is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term harbor is often used interchangeably with port, which is a man-made facility built for loading and unloading vessels and dropping off and picking up passengers. Ports usually include one or more harbors. Alexandria Port in Egypt is an example of a port with two harbors.
Shark was stricken from the Navy List on 16 September 1919 and sold to Morgan Barnes on 20 October 1919.
A Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a country.
