USS Whistler (SP-784)

300px Whistler passing a Virginia-class battleship around the time of her acquisition by the U.S. Navy in May 1917.
History
United States
Name:	USS Whistler
Namesake:	Previous name retained
Builder:	J. E. Graves, Marblehead, Massachusetts
Completed:	1917
Acquired:	17 May 1917
Commissioned:	31 July 1917
Decommissioned:	19 May 1919
Struck:	19 May 1919
Fate:	Sold 20 June 1919
Notes:	Operated as private motorboat Whistler in 1917
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol vessel
Tonnage:	20 gross register tons
Length:	50 ft (15 m)
Beam:	11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
Draft:	3 ft (0.91 m) mean
Speed:	25 knots
Complement:	7
Armament:	1 × 1-pounder gun 1 × Colt machine gun

File:USS Whistler (SP-784).jpg

Whistler around the time of her acquisition by the U.S. Navy in May 1917.

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.

USS Whistler (SP-784) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Whistler was built as a private motorboat of the same name by J. E. Graves at Marblehead, Massachusetts, in 1917. On 17 May 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, Lawrence F. Percival of Boston, Massachusetts, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Whistler (SP-784) on 31 July 1917.

Assigned to the Boston Section of the 1st Naval District, Whistler operated from the naval district's headquarters at the Commonwealth Pier in Boston on harbor entrance patrols for the rest of World War I. She occasionally served as a dispatch boat, carrying messages to and from other boats patrolling the harbor entrance. She also stood by the new submarine USS O-5 (Submarine No. 66) while O-5 conducted pre-commissioning submergence and sea trials on 30 May 1918.

Whistler was decommissioned on 19 May 1919 and sricken from the Navy List the same day. She was sold to J. E. Doherty of Boston on 20 June 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: Civilian Ships: Whistler (Motor Boat, 1917). Served as USS Whistler (SP-784) in 1917-1919
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Whistler (SP 784)