USS Shad (SP-551) hauled out of the water at the Boston Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts, sometime between 1917 and 1919.
History
United States
Name	USS Shad
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	George Lawley & Son, Neponset, Massachusetts
Completed	1907
Acquired	15 May 1917
Commissioned	24 May 1917
Decommissioned	1919
Stricken	18 August 1919
Fate	Sold 10 September 1919
Notes	Operated as private motorboat Shad 1907-1917
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Tonnage	17 gross register tons
Length	43 ft 8 in (13.31 m)
Beam	10 ft (3.0 m)
Draft	3 ft 5 in (1.04 m)
Speed	12 knots
Complement	8
Armament	1 × 1-pounder gun

The first USS Shad (SP-551) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Shad was built as a private motorboat of the same name by George Lawley & Son at Neponset, Massachusetts in 1907. On 15 May 1917, the U.S. Navy purchased her from Herbert C. Talbot for use as a section patrol vessel during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Shad (SP-551) on 24 May 1917.

Presumably assigned to the 1st Naval District, Shad served on patrol duties in Boston Harbor at Boston, Massachusetts, for the rest of World War I and during the first few months of 1919.

Shad was decommissioned in 1919, stricken from the Navy List on 18 August 1919, and sold on 10 September 1919 to the J. E. Doherty Company of Boston.

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: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Shad (SP-551), 1917-1919. Previously Civilian Motor Boat Shad (1907)
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Shad (SP 551)