USS Skink

Summary

USS Skink (SP-605) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.

Skink as a private motorboat in 1917 shortly before the U.S. Navy acquired her.
History
United States
NameUSS Skink
NamesakePrevious name retained
BuilderGeorge Lawley & Son, Neponset, Massachusetts
Completed1917
Acquired30 June 1917
Commissioned13 June 1917
Decommissioned22 November 1918
FateReturned to owner 24 February 1919
NotesOperated as private motorboat Skink in 1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
TypePatrol vessel
Tonnage10 gross register tons
Length50 ft (15 m)
Beam10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Draft6 ft (1.8 m)
Speed17 knots
Complement7
Armament1 × machine gun
U.S. Navy patrol vessels at Lockwood's Basin in Boston, Massachusetts, ca. 1918. Starting from the bottom center, from left to right they are USS Kiowa (SP-711), USS Skink (SP-605), USS Whistler (SP-784), and USS Lynx II (SP-730). The passenger and cargo ship USS Moosehead (ID-2047) is at left.

Skink was built as a private motorboat of the same name by George Lawley & Son at Neponset, Massachusetts, in 1917. In 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, Robert D. Longyear of Cambridge, Massachusetts, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Skink (SP-605) on 13 June 1917, and retrospectively formally acquired from Longyear on 30 June 1917.

Assigned to the 1st Naval District in northern New England, Skink carried out patrol duties in the Boston, Massachusetts, area for the rest of World War I.

Skink was decommissioned on 22 November 1918 and returned to Longyear on 24 February 1919.

References edit

  • 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: Skink (Motor Boat, 1917). Served as USS Skink (SP-605) in 1917-1919
  • NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Skink (SP 605)