USS Uncas (SP-689)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Uncas.

300px USS Uncas ca. June 1917, just after completion.
History
United States
Name:	USS Uncas
Namesake:	Uncas (ca. 1588-ca. 1683), a Mohegan chief (previous name retained)
Builder:	Greenport Basin and Construction Company, Greenport, New York
Completed:	1917
Acquired:	28 June 1917
Commissioned:	28 June 1917
Renamed:	USS SP-689 April 1918
Fate:	Returned to owner 31 December 1918
Notes:	Operated as private motorboat Uncas 1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol vessel
Tonnage:	13 tons
Length:	60 ft (18 m)
Beam:	10 ft (3.0 m)
Draft:	2 ft (0.61 m) (mean)
Speed:	20 knots
Complement:	8
Armament:	1 × .30-caliber (7.62-millimeter) machine gun

The third USS Uncas (SP-689), later USS SP-689, was an armed motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1918.

Uncas was built as a wooden-hulled civilian motorboat in 1917 by the Greenport Basin and Construction Company at Greenport on Long Island, New York. The U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, Charles L. Poor of New York City, on 28 June 1917 for use as a patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned the same day as USS Uncas (SP-689).

Assigned to the 3rd Naval District, Uncas conducted local patrol operations in the New York City area out of Section Base No. 6 at Bath Beach, Brooklyn, New York, for the duration of the war. In April 1918, her name was changed to USS SP-689 to avoid confusion with the tug USS Uncas, which was in commission at the same time.

SP-689 was returned to her owner on 31 December 1918.

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 Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Uncas (SP-689), 1917-1918. Later renamed SP-689. Originally the civilian motorboat Uncas
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Uncas (SP 689)