USS Dreadnought (SP-584)


Dreadnought as a private motorboat, hauled out of the water at the Boston Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts, on 14 May 1917, three days prior to her acquisition by the United States Navy.
Career (United States)
Name: USS Dreadnought (1917-1918)
USS SP-584 (1918-1919)
Namesake: Dreadnought was her previous name retained
SP-584 was her section patrol number
Builder: R. Bigelow, Monument Beach, Massachusetts
Completed: 1916 or 1917
Acquired: 17 May 1917
Commissioned: 20 October 1917
Renamed: SP-584 in 1918
Fate: Returned to owner 6 June 1919
Notes: Operated as private motorboat Dreadnought 1916-1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type: Patrol vessel
Tonnage: 10 gross register tons
Length: 32 ft (9.8 m)[1] or 56 ft (17 m)[2]
Beam: 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m)
Draft: 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) aft
Speed: 11.3[3] or 30[4] miles per hour[5]
Complement: 7
Armament: 1 x 1-pounder gun
1 x machine gun

USS Dreadnought (SP-584), later USS SP-584, was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Dreadnought was built as a private fast "runabout" motorboat of the same name by R. Bigelow at Monument Beach, Massachusetts, in either 1916 or 1917. On 17 May 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, Eldon B. Keith of Brockton, Massachusetts, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Dreadnought (SP-584) on 20 October 1917.

Assigned to the 5th Naval District, Dreadnought carried out patrol duties there for the rest of World War I. In 1918, she was renamed USS SP-584.

SP-584 was returned to her owner on 6 June 1919.

Dreadnought should not be confused with the tug USS Dreadnaught (ID-1951), later AT-34, which was in commission at the same time.

Notes

  1. ^ Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Dreadnought (American Motor Boat). Served as USS Dreadnought (SP-584) and USS SP-584 in 1917-1919.
  2. ^ NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive SP-584 ex-Dreadnought (SP 584).
  3. ^ NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive SP-584 ex-Dreadnought (SP 584).
  4. ^ Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Dreadnought (American Motor Boat). Served as USS Dreadnought (SP-584) and USS SP-584 in 1917-1919.
  5. ^ Although the two sources disagree on Dreadnought's maximum speed, both provide it in miles per hour, implying statute miles per hour, an usual unit of measure for the speed of a watercraft. It is possible that her speed actually was either 11.3 or 30 knots, depending on which source is to be believed. If 11.3 statute miles per hour is accurate, the equivalent in knots is 9.8; if 30 statute miles per hour is accurate, the equivalent in knots is 26.

References