USS Sea Otter (SP-781)

USS Sea Otter (SP-781), probably while awaiting disposal in 1919. She is in port with many other section patrol craft, including USS Patrol No. 10 (SP-85) (second boat inboard of Sea Otter) and USS Daiquiri (SP-1285) (in right background).
History
United States
Name	USS Sea Otter
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Britt Brothers, Lynn, Massachusetts
Completed	1911[1] or 1913[2]
Acquired	11 June 1917
Commissioned	11 June 1917
Stricken	7 November 1919
Fate	Sold 16 January 1920
Notes	Operated as private motorboat Sea Otter from 1911 or 1913 to 1917
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Tonnage	6 Gross register tons
Displacement	6 tons
Length	40 ft (12 m)
Beam	10 ft 1 in (3.07 m)
Draft	3 ft 6 in (1.07 m)
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h)
Complement	5
Armament	1 × 1-pounder gun 1 × Colt machine gun

USS Sea Otter (SP-781) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Background[edit]

Sea Otter was built as a private wooden motorboat of the same name in either 1911^[3] or 1913^[4] by Britt Brothers [Wikidata] at Lynn, Massachusetts. On 11 June 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, Hugh L. Willoughby of Newport, Rhode Island, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned the same day as USS Sea Otter (SP-781).

Sea Otter performed transportation and supply duties in United States East Coast ports for the rest of World War I.

Decommissioned sometime after the end of the war, Sea Otter was stricken from the Navy List on 7 November 1919 and sold to Joseph Guild of Boston, Massachusetts, on 16 January 1920.

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• 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 History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Sea Otter (SP-781), 1917-1919
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Sea Otter (SP 781)