USS Whitecap

USS Whitecap (SP-340) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.

USS Whitecap (left) towing a heavily laden schooner through icy waters.

USS Whitecap
History
United States
Name	USS Whitecap
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Completed	1916
Acquired	28 April 1917
Commissioned	8 May 1917
Decommissioned	11 March 1919
Fate	Returned to owners 1 April 1919
Notes	Operated as commercial fishing trawler Whitecap 1916-1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Tonnage	303 tons
Length	143 ft (44 m)
Beam	22 ft 8 in (6.91 m)
Draft	13 ft 5 in (4.09 m) (aft)
Speed	11 knots
Complement	18
Armament	1 × 6-pounder gun 1 × 3-inch (76.2-millimeter) gun

Whitecap was built in 1916 as a commercial fishing trawler of the same name by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The U.S. Navy acquired Whitecap from the Bay State Fisheries Company of South Boston, Massachusetts, on 28 April 1917 for World War I service as a patrol vessel, and commissioned her as USS Whitecap (SP-340) on 8 May 1917.

Initially attached to the 1st Naval District in northern New England, Whitecap began operations out of the 2nd Naval District in southern New England in late February 1918. During her naval career, Whitecap operated primarily out of Newport, Rhode Island, patrolling between that base and New London, Connecticut. Occasionally, her coastal patrols took her to Nantucket Island off Massachusetts, Block Island off Rhode Island, and Montauk Point, Long Island, New York, as well as to New York City. When not at sea keeping tabs on the coastwise traffic of naval and merchant vessels, Whitecap performed local tow and escort service out of Newport.

Decommissioned at Boston, Massachusetts, on 11 March 1919, Whitecap was returned to the Bay State Fisheries Company on 1 April 1919. Her name was struck from the Navy List, and Whitecap resumed her peacetime fishing pursuits