USS Vester (SP-686) was a United States Navy patrol vessel and minesweeper in commission from 1917 to 1919.

History
United States
NameUSS Vester
NamesakePrevious name retained
Completed1876
Acquired24 May 1917
Commissioned2 June 1917
Decommissioned15 May 1919
FateSold 15 January 1920
NotesOperated as commercial freight boat Vester 1876-1917
General characteristics
TypePatrol vessel and minesweeper
Tonnage117 Gross register tons
Length96 ft 4 in (29.36 m)
Beam18 ft 4 in (5.59 m)
Draft5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) mean
PropulsionSingle-expansion steam engine
Speed7.6 knots
Complement24
Armament2 × 1-pounder guns

Vester was built as a wooden-hulled commercial freight boat of the same name at Boothbay, Maine, in 1876. On 24 May 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, the Delaware Fish Oil Company, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned on 2 June 1917 as USS Vester (SP-686.

Assigned to the 4th Naval District, Vester operated on patrol duties until 21 October 1917, when she was transferred to the naval district's minesweeping squadron, based at the section base at Lewes, Delaware. Plagued by engine problems, she apparently was unable to carry out many operations with the squadron, spending most of her time alongside the pier. On 11 September 1918, she was transferred back to patrol duties, which she carried out as much as her troublesome engine would permit through the end of World War I and until May 1919.

On 15 May 1919, Vester was decommissioned at Cape May, New Jersey. She was sold to Hayes and Anderton of New York City on 15 January 1920.

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