USS Scoter (SP-20)

Scoter as a private pleasure craft in 1916-1917, prior to her United States Navy service, passing the submarine USS L-1 (SS-40). The destroyer USS Monaghan (DD-32), left, and the submarine USS L-3 (SS-42), right, are in the background.
History
United States
Name	USS Scoter
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	George Lawley & Son, Neponset, Massachusetts
Completed	1916
Acquired	21 April 1917
Commissioned	21 April 1917
Stricken	1919
Fate	Unknown; probably disposed of in Europe 1919
Notes	Operated as private motorboat Scoter 1916-1917 Originally mistakenly designated as both SP-20 and SP-53; "SP-53" designation later reassigned to USS Boy Scout (SP-53)
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Tonnage	21 tons
Length	53 ft 3 in (16.23 m)
Beam	11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
Draft	3 ft (0.91 m)
Speed	23 knots
Armament	1 × 1-pounder gun 1 × .30-caliber (7.62-millimeter) machine gun

The first USS Scoter (SP-20), originally mistakenly designated both SP-20 and SP-53, was an armed motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 until 1918 or 1919.

Scoter was built in 1916 by George Lawley & Son at Neponset, Massachusetts, as a private motorboat of the same name. She was enrolled in the .

Her owner, J. L. Saltonstall of Boston, Massachusetts, delivered her to the U.S. Navy on 21 April 1917 for World War I service. She was commissioned as USS Scoter (SP-20) the same day. Originally, the Navy inadvertently gave her two designations, SP-20 and SP-53, but the designation SP-53 was later transferred to another patrol boat, USS Boy Scout (SP-53).

Assigned to duty with U.S. naval forces in Europe, Scoter was carried across the Atlantic Ocean on a larger ship. Records of her service after that are lacking; she probably operated in French waters into 1918. Unaccounted for, she was dropped from the Navy List in 1919; she probably was disposed of in Europe that year.

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 Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Scoter (American Motor Boat, 1916). Served as USS Scoter (SP-20) in 1917-1919.
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Scoter (SP 20)