USS Desire (SP-786)

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.