USS Scarpe

History
United States
Name	USS Scarpe
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	W. S. Burgess, Marblehead, Massachusetts
Acquired	1 May 1917
Commissioned	1 May 1917
Fate	Returned to owner 16 May 1919
Notes	Operated as private motorboat Scarpe until 1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Length	36 ft (11 m)
Beam	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Draft	2 ft 6 in (0.76 m)
Speed	15 miles per hour

USS Scarpe (SP-713) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Scarpe was built as a private wooden motorboat of the same name by W. S. Burgess at Marblehead, Massachusetts. On 1 May 1917, her owner, F. F. Fields of Brockton, Massachusetts, loaned her to the U.S. Navy for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Scarpe (SP-713) the same day.

Assigned to the 1st Naval District in northern New England, Scarpe served on patrol duty for the rest of World War I and for a short time after its conclusion.

Scarpe was returned to Fields on 16 May 1919.

Notes

^ The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s7/scarpe.htm and NavSource Online at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170713.htm give Scarpe's speed as 15 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 15 knots. If 15 statute miles per hour is accurate, the equivalent in knots is 13.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
SP-713 Scarpe at Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships -- Listed by Hull Number "SP" #s and "ID" #s -- World War I Era Patrol Vessels and other Acquired Ships and Craft numbered from SP-700 through SP-799
NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Scarpe (SP 713)

[1] The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s7/scarpe.htm and NavSource Online at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170713.htm give Scarpe's speed as 15 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 15 knots. If 15 statute miles per hour is accurate, the equivalent in knots is 13.

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