Desire as a private motorboat sometime between 1913 and 1917.
History
United States
Name	USS Desire
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	J. W. Munn, Galveston, Texas
Completed	1913
Acquired	1917
Commissioned	14 June 1917
Decommissioned	2 January 1919
Fate	Returned to owner 2 January 1919
Notes	Operated as private motorboat Desire 1913-1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Length	90 ft (27 m)

USS Desire (SP-786) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Desire was built as a private motorboat of the same name in 1913 by J. W. Munn at Galveston, Texas. In 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her under a free lease from her owner, Clifford Abeles of St. Louis, Missouri, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned on 14 June 1917 as USS Desire (SP-786).

Assigned to the 5th Naval District, Desire carried out patrol duties and transported customs inspectors for the rest of World War I.

Desire was decommissioned and returned to Abeles on 2 January 1919.

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: Desire (American Motor Boat, 1913). Was USS Desire (SP-786) in 1917-1919
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Desire (SP 786)

Desire as a private motorboat sometime between 1913 and 1917, probably in a Caribbean port. A bunch of bananas hangs by her bow.