USS Boy Scout

	Boy Scout underway, circa 1916–1917.
History
United States
Laid down	1916
Fate	not definitely accounted for
General characteristics
Displacement	9 tons
Length	45 ft (14 m)
Beam	9.25 ft (2.82 m)
Draught	10.167 ft (3.099 m)
Propulsion	none
Speed	26 knots
Complement	four officers and men
Armament	one one-pounder cannon

USS Boy Scout (SP-53) was a wooden-hulled motorboat that served as a section patrol craft,[1] was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the Boy Scouts of America and by extension for Scouting throughout the world.

Background

Her keel was laid down in 1916 at Lynn, Massachusetts, by Britt Brothers.[2] She was acquired by the United States Navy from Albert Geiger, Jr., of Brookline, Massachusetts, and classified as a section patrol (SP) craft. Initially assigned to First Naval District New England, Boy Scout was given the hull classification symbol SP-53 and was shipped overseas for "aviation service" perhaps, in view of her speed, for use as a crash boat at a naval air station. However, records of her operations and ultimate fate have not survived. The edition of Ship's Data, U.S. Naval Vessels of 1 July 1920 described Boy Scout as "overseas" but did not state where, only adding the curious notation that she was "not definitely accounted for, and in the absence of further reports will not be listed hereafter."[3]

References

""SP" #s and "ID" #s -- World War I Era Patrol Vessels and other Acquired Ships and Craft". Naval Historical Center, U. S. Navy. December 15, 2006. Archived from the original on October 10, 2003. Retrieved May 11, 2008.
"Boy Scout (American Motor Boat, 1916). Became USS Boy Scout (SP-53) in 1917". Naval Historical Center, U. S. Navy. August 19, 2004. Archived from the original on December 21, 2004. Retrieved May 11, 2008.
Cressman, Robert J. (December 14, 2005). "Boy Scout". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval Historical Center, U. S. Navy. Archived from the original on July 24, 2006. Retrieved May 11, 2008.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

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[1] ""SP" #s and "ID" #s -- World War I Era Patrol Vessels and other Acquired Ships and Craft". Naval Historical Center, U. S. Navy. December 15, 2006. Archived from the original on October 10, 2003. Retrieved May 11, 2008.

[2] "Boy Scout (American Motor Boat, 1916). Became USS Boy Scout (SP-53) in 1917". Naval Historical Center, U. S. Navy. August 19, 2004. Archived from the original on December 21, 2004. Retrieved May 11, 2008.

[3] Cressman, Robert J. (December 14, 2005). "Boy Scout". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval Historical Center, U. S. Navy. Archived from the original on July 24, 2006. Retrieved May 11, 2008.