USS Shad (SP-551)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Shad.

Not to be confused with USS Shada (SP-580).

300px USS Shad (SP-551) hauled out of the water at the Boston Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts, sometime between 1917 and 1919.
History
United States
Name:	USS Shad
Namesake:	Previous name retained
Builder:	George Lawley & Son, Neponset, Massachusetts
Completed:	1907
Acquired:	15 May 1917
Commissioned:	24 May 1917
Decommissioned:	1919
Struck:	18 August 1919
Fate:	Sold 10 September 1919
Notes:	Operated as private motorboat Shad 1907-1917
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol vessel
Tonnage:	17 gross register tons
Length:	43 ft 8 in (13.31 m)
Beam:	10 ft (3.0 m)
Draft:	3 ft 5 in (1.04 m)
Speed:	12 knots
Complement:	8
Armament:	1 × 1-pounder gun

The first USS Shad (SP-551) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Shad was built as a private motorboat of the same name by George Lawley & Son at Neponset, Massachusetts in 1907. On 15 May 1917, the U.S. Navy purchased her from Herbert C. Talbot for use as a section patrol vessel during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Shad (SP-551) on 24 May 1917.

Presumably assigned to the 1st Naval District, Shad served on patrol duties in Boston Harbor at Boston, Massachusetts, for the rest of World War I and during the first few months of 1919.

Shad was decommissioned in 1919, stricken from the Navy List on 18 August 1919, and sold on 10 September 1919 to the J. E. Doherty Company of Boston.

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: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Shad (SP-551), 1917-1919. Previously Civilian Motor Boat Shad (1907)
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Shad (SP 551)