History
United States
Name	USS Venture
Builder	George Lawley & Son, South Boston, Massachusetts
Laid down	1916
Launched	1916
Acquired	28 April 1917
Commissioned	28 April 1917
Decommissioned	5 February 1919
Stricken	date unknown
Homeport	Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine
Fate	Returned to owner 1919
General characteristics
Displacement	48 tons (gross)
Length	80 ft 0 in (24.38 m)
Beam	13 ft 0 in (3.96 m)
Draught	4 ft 0 in (1.22 m)
Speed	varied
Complement	14
Armament	one three-pounder and one one-pounder

USS Venture (SP-616) was a Venture-class patrol boat acquired by the U.S. Navy for the task of patrolling the coastal waters of the New England coast during World War I. Her primary task was to guard the coastal area against German submarines.

The first ship to be named Venture by the Navy, SP-616—a wooden-hulled, screw steam yacht designed by F. D. Lawley and completed as Shadow in 1916 at South Boston, Massachusetts, by George Lawley & Son—was acquired by the Navy under free lease from Mrs. Sarah L. Silsbee of Isleboro Island, Maine, on 28 April 1917 and commissioned the same day.

World War I service

Attached to the 5th Section, 1st Naval District, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Venture operated out of the Portsmouth Navy Yard at Kittery, Maine, through the end of World War I, conducting security patrols and performing dispatch duties.

End-of-war decommissioning

Following the armistice, she was decommissioned on 5 February 1919 and returned to her owner.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• Photo gallery at navsource.org