USS Speedway (SP-407)

History
United States
Name:	USS Speedway
Namesake:	Previous name retained
Builder:	Gas Engine & Power Company and Charles L. Seabury Company, Morris Heights, the Bronx, New York
Acquired:	May 2, 1917
Commissioned:	May 3, 1917
Fate:	February 14, 1919
Notes:	Operated as private motorboat Speedway until 1917 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol vessel
Tonnage:	15 gross register tons
Length:	52 ft (16 m)
Beam:	11 ft 3 in (3.43 m)
Draft:	3 ft (0.91 m) aft
Speed:	16 miles per hour[1]
Armament:	1 × 1-pounder gun; 1 × .30-caliber (7.62-mm) machine gun;

USS Speedway (SP-407) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Speedway was built as a private motorboat of the same name by the Gas Engine & Power Company and the Charles L. Seabury Company at Morris Heights in the Bronx, New York. On May 2, 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her under a free lease from her owner, W. Blair of New York City, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Speedway (SP-407) on May 3.

Speedway served on patrol duties along the Mid-Atlantic coast of the United States through the end of World War I. The Navy returned her to her owner on February 14, 1919.

Notes

The Dictionary of American Naval Fightings Ships at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s16/speedway.htm and NavSource Online at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170407.htm both give Speedway's speed in miles per hour, an unusual way to measure the speed of a watercraft. It may be that the boat's speed actually was 16 knots. If 16 miles per hours is correct, the equivalent in knots is 13.9.

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: Speedway (SP 407)

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[1] The Dictionary of American Naval Fightings Ships at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s16/speedway.htm and NavSource Online at http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170407.htm both give Speedway's speed in miles per hour, an unusual way to measure the speed of a watercraft. It may be that the boat's speed actually was 16 knots. If 16 miles per hours is correct, the equivalent in knots is 13.9.