The first USS Tuna (SP-664) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.

USS Tuna (SP-664) in a harbor in the northeastern United States in 1917.
History
United States
NameUSS Tuna
NamesakePrevious name retained
BuilderNeilson Yacht Building Company, Baltimore, Maryland
Completed1911
Acquired11 June 1917
Commissioned12 June 1917
Stricken11 January 1919
FateReturned to owner 11 January 1919
NotesOperated as private yacht Tuna 1911-1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
TypePatrol vessel
Tonnage81 gross register tons
Length94 ft 0 in (28.65 m)
Beam16 ft 0 in (4.88 m)
Draft4 ft 0 in (1.22 m) mean
Speed12 knots
Complement19
Armament

Tuna was built as a private motor yacht of the same name by the Neilson Yacht Building Company at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1911. On 11 June 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her under a free lease from her owner, Edward L. Welch of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Tuna (SP-664) on 12 June 1917.

Assigned to the 2nd Naval District in southern New England and based at the Block Island section base in Rhode Island, Tuna patrolled the coastline between Long Island, New York, and Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts for the rest of World War I.

Tuna was stricken from the Navy List on 11 January 1919 and returned to Welch the same day.

References

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Tuna ready for launching as a private motor yacht at the Neilson Yacht Building Company shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1911.