USS Lowell (SP-504)

History
United States
Name	USS Lowell
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	, Staten Island, New York (as Steam lighter) 1909 , Brooklyn, New York (as tug) 1917
Completed	1909; rebuilt 1917
Acquired	29 September 1917
Commissioned	29 September 1917
Decommissioned	26 May 1919
Fate	Returned to owner 26 May 1919
Notes	Operated as commercial steam lighter Lowell 1909-1917 and as commercial tug Lowell 1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel and Minesweeper
Displacement	249 tons
Length	119 ft 4 in (36.37 m)
Beam	29 ft (8.8 m)
Draft	9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion	Steam engine
Speed	9 knots
Complement	20
Armament	None

USS Lowell (SP-504) was a United States Navy patrol vessel and minesweeper in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Lowell was built as a commercial steam lighter of the same name in 1909 by at Staten Island, New York. In 1917 she was rebuilt as a steam tug by at Brooklyn, New York.

The U.S. Navy acquired Lowell under charter from her owner, , of New York City, on 29 September 1917 for World War I service as a patrol vessel and minesweeper. The Navy took control of her and commissioned her the same day at Tompkinsville on Staten Island as USS Lowell (SP-504) with Chief Boatswain's Mate H. H. Graves, USNRF, in command.

Assigned to the 3rd Naval District, Lowell operated out of New York Harbor for the remainder of World War I as a dispatch boat and harbor patrol craft. In addition, she operated as a minesweeper and swept for naval mines in The Narrows and off southern Long Island.

After the war, Lowell was decommissioned on 16 May 1919 and was returned to the Neptune Line the same day.

References[]

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Lowell (SP 504)