USS Needle (SP-649)

Needle is in the left foreground in this photograph of boats undergoing conversion for World War I use as United States Navy patrol vessels, ca. July 1917. In the center foreground is USS Inca (SP-1212). The boat on the right and the four boats in the background are unidentified.
History
United States
Name:	USS Needle
Namesake:	Previous name retained
Builder:	George Lawley & Son, Neponset, Massachusetts
Completed:	1906
Acquired:	9 June 1917
Commissioned:	20 June 1917
Struck:	18 August 1919
Fate:	Sold 16 September 1919
Notes:	Operated as private motorboat Needle 1906-1917
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol vessel
Tonnage:	22 gross register tons
Length:	71 ft (22 m)
Beam:	10 ft (3.0 m)
Draft:	3 ft 9 in (1.14 m)
Speed:	12 knots
Armament:	2 × machine guns

USS Needle (SP-649) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Needle was built as a private motorboat of the same name by George Lawley & Son at Neponset, Massachusetts, in 1906. On 9 June 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, George L. Batchelder of Medford, Massachusetts, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Needle (SP-649) on 20 June 1917.

Needle carried out patrol duties for the rest of World War I and into 1919.

Needle was stricken from the Navy List on 18 August 1919 and sold to Morgan Barney of New York City on 16 September 1919.

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: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Needle (SP-649), 1917-1919
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Needle (SP 649)