USS Grayling (SP-1259)

The second USS Grayling (SP-1259) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.

USS Grayling departing Lockwood's Basin at Boston, Massachusetts, for a patrol during World War I. USS Elsie III (SP-708) and USS Lynx II (SP-730) are among the patrol boats in the background.
History
United States
Name:	USS Grayling
Namesake:	The grayling, a fresh-water game fish closely related to the trout (previous name retained)
Builder:	Boyden, Amesbury, Massachusetts
Completed:	1915
Acquired:	7 May 1917
Commissioned:	22 May 1917
Decommissioned:	15 January 1919
Fate:	Returned to owner 30 November 1918
Notes:	Operated as civilian motorboat Grayling 1915-1917 and from November 1918
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol vessel
Tonnage:	4 tons
Length:	33 ft 6 in (10.21 m)
Beam:	7 ft (2.1 m)
Draft:	2 ft 10 in (0.86 m)
Speed:	14 knots
Complement:	3
Armament:	1 × machine gun

History

Grayling was built as a civilian motorboat of the same name in 1915 by Boyden at Amesbury, Massachusetts. The U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, E. E. Gray, on 7 May 1917 for World War I service as a patrol vessel. She was commissioned on 22 May 1917 as USS Grayling (SP-1259).

Assigned to the 1st Naval District and based at Boston, Massachusetts, Grayling served on section patrol duties in Boston Harbor for the remainder of World War I.

Grayling was then returned to Gray on 30 November 1918.

• Grayling is distinct from USS Grayling (SP-289), a different patrol vessel in commission during World War I.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Grayling (SP 1259)