USS Secret (SP-1063)

USS Secret (SP-1063) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.

USS Secret (SP-1063) during World War I. Several barges are in the background.
History
Name: USS Secret
Namesake: Previous name retained
Builder: William E. Haff, New Rochelle, New York
Completed: 1917
Acquired: 28 May 1917
Commissioned: 28 May 1917
Decommissioned: 30 December 1918
Fate: Returned to owner 30 December 1918
Notes: Operated as private motorboat Secret 1916-1917 and from 1918
General characteristics
Type: Patrol vessel
Length: 37 ft (11 m)
Beam: 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)
Draft: 2 ft (0.61 m)
Speed: 22 miles per hour[1]

Secret was built as a private motorboat of the same name in 1916 by William E. Haff at New Rochelle, New York. On 28 May 1917, the U.S. Navy leased her from her owner, John S. Baker of Short Hills, New Jersey, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned the same day as USS Secret (SP-1063).

Assigned to the 5th Naval District, Secret served as a dispatch boat. She also served as a rescue boat at Naval Air Station Anacostia in Washington, D.C.

Secret was decommissioned on 30 December 1918 and was returned to Baker the same day.

Notes
  1. The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s9/secret.htm and NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Secret (SP 1063) give Secret'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
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