Beluga as a private motorboat sometime before the United States entered World War I.
History
United States
Name	USS Beluga
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Greenport Basin & Construction Company, Greenport, New York
Completed	1911
Acquired	14 May 1917
Commissioned	15 May 1917
Stricken	25 November 1918
Fate	Returned to owner
Notes	Operated as private motorboat Gaviota and Beluga 1911-1917 and Beluga from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Tonnage	42 gross register tons
Length	73 ft (22 m)
Beam	13 ft 9 in (4.19 m)
Draft	4 ft 6 in (1.37 m) aft
Speed	12 knots
Complement	10
Armament	1 × 1-pounder gun 2 × machine guns

USS Beluga (SP-536) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.

Beluga was built in 1911 as a private motorboat Gaviota by the Greenport Basin & Construction Company at Greenport on Long Island, New York. She later was renamed Beluga.

On 14 May 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired Beluga under a free lease from her owner, Mr. J. Henry Herring of New Bedford, Massachusetts, for use as a section patrol vessel during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Beluga (SP-536) on 15 May 1917.

Assigned to the 2nd Naval District in southern New England, Beluga operated on patrol duties in the coastal waters around the section bases at Newport, Rhode Island, and New Bedford for the rest of World War I.

Beluga was stricken from the Navy Directory on 25 November 1918 and returned to Herring.

References

• 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: Civilian Ships: Beluga (American Motor Boat, 1911). Formerly named Gaviota. Served as USS Beluga (SP-536) in 1917-1918
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Beluga (SP 536)