USS Thistle (SP-1058)

History
United States
Name:	USS Thistle
Namesake:	Previous name retained
Builder:	New York Yacht, Launch & Engine Company, Morris Heights, the Bronx, New York
Completed:	1907
Acquired:	17 August 1917
Commissioned:	26 December 1917
Fate:	Ordered returned to owner 6 July 1918
Notes:	Operated as private motorboat Thistle 1907-1917 and from 1918
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol vessel
Tonnage:	41 gross tons
Length:	70 ft (21 m)
Beam:	12 ft (3.7 m)
Draft:	4 ft 0 in (1.22 m) aft
Speed:	13 miles per hour[1]
Complement:	9
Armament:	1 × 3-pounder gun 1 × 1-pounder gun

The second USS Thistle (SP-1058) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.

Thistle was built as a private wooden-hulled motorboat of the same name in 1907 by the New York Yacht, Launch & Engine Company at Morris Heights in the Bronx, New York. On 17 August 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, William Emmerich of New York City, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Thistle (SP-1058) on 26 December 1917.

Assigned to the 3rd Naval District, Thistle patrolled the coast and harbors between New London, Connecticut, and Barnegat, New Jersey.

Ultimately, Thistle was found to be unsuitable for naval service. On 6 July 1918, the Commandant, 3rd Naval District, ordered her to be returned to Emmerich.

Notes

1. The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Thistle (SP 1058) give Thistle's speed as 13 miles per hour, implying statute miles per hour, an unusual unit of measure for the speed of a watercraft. It is possible that her speed actually was 13 knots. If 13 statute miles per hour is accurate, the equivalent in knots is 11.3.

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 Thistle (SP 1058)