USS Tuna (SP-664) in a harbor in the northeastern United States in 1917.
History
United States
Name	USS Tuna
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Neilson Yacht Building Company, Baltimore, Maryland
Completed	1911
Acquired	11 June 1917
Commissioned	12 June 1917
Stricken	11 January 1919
Fate	Returned to owner 11 January 1919
Notes	Operated as private yacht Tuna 1911-1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Tonnage	81 gross register tons
Length	94 ft 0 in (28.65 m)
Beam	16 ft 0 in (4.88 m)
Draft	4 ft 0 in (1.22 m) mean
Speed	12 knots
Complement	19
Armament	1 × 1-pounder gun 1 × machine gun

The first USS Tuna (SP-664) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Tuna was built as a private motor yacht of the same name by the Neilson Yacht Building Company at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1911. On 11 June 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her under a free lease from her owner, Edward L. Welch of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Tuna (SP-664) on 12 June 1917.

Assigned to the 2nd Naval District in southern New England and based at the Block Island section base in Rhode Island, Tuna patrolled the coastline between Long Island, New York, and Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts for the rest of World War I.

Tuna was stricken from the Navy List on 11 January 1919 and returned to Welch the same day.

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: Tuna (American Motor Boat, 1908). Served as USS Tuna (SP-664) in 1917-1919
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Tuna (SP 664)

Tuna ready for launching as a private motor yacht at the Neilson Yacht Building Company shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1911.