USS Quest (SP-171)

USS Quest during World War I.
History
United States
Name	USS Quest
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Greenport Basin and Drydock Company, Greenport, New York
Completed	1916
Acquired	26 July 1917
Commissioned	8 September 1917
Fate	Returned to owner 7 January 1919
Notes	Operated as civilian motorboat Whippet and Quest 1916-1917 and as Quest from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Displacement	12.5 tons
Length	60 ft (18 m)
Beam	10 ft (3.0 m)
Draft	1 ft 8 in (0.51 m)
Speed	22 knots
Armament	1 × 3-pounder gun 2 × machine guns

The first USS Quest (SP-171) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Quest was built as the civilian motorboat Whippet for U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Daniel Bacon in 1916 by the Greenport Basin and Drydock Company at Greenport on Long Island, New York, using the same hull design as some submarine chasers then being constructed for the Imperial Russian Navy; though under civilian ownership, Whippet may have been intended for possible U.S. Navy use as part of the contemporary Preparedness Movement. She soon was renamed Quest.

The U.S. Navy chartered Quest from her owner on 26 July 1917 for World War I service as a patrol vessel. She was commissioned on 8 September 1917 as USS Quest (SP-171) with Quartermaster Henry J. Baker, USNRF, in command.

Quest was assigned to the 2nd Naval District and based at New Bedford, Massachusetts. She performed section patrol duty along the coast of southern New England for the rest of World War I.

Quest was returned to her owner on 7 January 1919 at Greenport.

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: Navy History and Heritage Command: Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Quest (SP-171), 1917-1919. Previously the civilian motor boat Quest, ex-Whippet.
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Quest (SP 171)