The first USS Menhaden (SP-847) was a United States Navy patrol vessel and tug in commission from 1917 to 1919.

USS Menhaden (SP-847) sometime between May 1917 and November 1918.
History
United States
NameUSS Menhaden
NamesakePrevious name retained
BuilderC. W. Crockett, Pocomoke City, Maryland
Completed1905
AcquiredMay 1917
Commissioned21 May 1917
Decommissioned12 March 1919
FateReturned to owner 12 March 1919
NotesOperated as commercial tug Menhaden 1905-1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
TypePatrol vessel and tug
Tonnage93 Gross register tons
Length100 ft (30 m)
Beam17 ft 9 in (5.41 m)
Draft9 ft 6 in (2.90 m)
PropulsionCoal-burning steam engine
Speed8 knots
Complement19
Armament2 × 1-pounder guns
USS Menhaden (SP-847) at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia, in August 1917.

Menhaden was built as a commercial tug of the same name in 1905 by C. W. Crockett at Pocomoke City, Maryland. In May 1917, the U.S. Navy chartered her from her owner, E. Benson Dennis of Cape Charles, Virginia, for use as a section patrol vessel during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Menhaden (SP-847) on 21 May 1917.

Assigned to the 5th Naval District and based at Norfolk, Virginia, Menhaden provided tug and towing services and conducted harbor patrols in Hampton Roads for the rest of World War I and into 1919. She also provided support to the 5th Naval District's minesweepers.

Menhaden was returned to Dennis on 12 March 1919.

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