USS Skink

Skink as a private motorboat in 1917 shortly before the U.S. Navy acquired her.
History
United States
Name	USS Skink
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	George Lawley & Son, Neponset, Massachusetts
Completed	1917
Acquired	30 June 1917
Commissioned	13 June 1917
Decommissioned	22 November 1918
Fate	Returned to owner 24 February 1919
Notes	Operated as private motorboat Skink in 1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Tonnage	10 gross register tons
Length	50 ft (15 m)
Beam	10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Draft	6 ft (1.8 m)
Speed	17 knots
Complement	7
Armament	1 × machine gun

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 Skink (SP-605) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.

Skink was built as a private motorboat of the same name by George Lawley & Son at Neponset, Massachusetts, in 1917. In 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, Robert D. Longyear of Cambridge, Massachusetts, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Skink (SP-605) on 13 June 1917, and retrospectively formally acquired from Longyear on 30 June 1917.

Assigned to the 1st Naval District in northern New England, Skink carried out patrol duties in the Boston, Massachusetts, area for the rest of World War I.

Skink was decommissioned on 22 November 1918 and returned to Longyear on 24 February 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: Skink (Motor Boat, 1917). Served as USS Skink (SP-605) in 1917-1919
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Skink (SP 605)