The USS Apache (SP-729) was a wooden-hulled motor boat built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company in Bristol, Rhode Island, and delivered as the first of eight similar vessels constructed for potential naval patrol use during World War I. Designed by Albert Loring Swasey and Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, the vessel measured approximately 62 feet 4 inches in overall length with a waterline length of 61 feet 4 inches. It had a beam of 10 feet 11 inches and a draft of about 3 feet 6 inches (Herreshoff) or 2 feet 6 inches (Navy). Displacing around 12 tons, the boat featured a single-deck wooden hull and was powered by two Sterling gasoline engines, each producing 200 horsepower, driving two 24-inch propellers. The design enabled the vessel to reach speeds exceeding 25 mph, with the Navy rating it at 21 knots. The vessel’s layout included a raised foredeck accessible via a conning tower or side decks, a cabin below, and a small stern cockpit. A notable feature was a dummy smokestack, serving as an access hatch to the engine compartment. Fuel capacity was 500 gallons, providing a range of approximately 220 nautical miles. Commissioned into the U.S. Navy as USS Apache (SP-729) on July 7, 1917, at Boston, the vessel served primarily as a dispatch and patrol boat within the Boston 1st Naval District during World War I. In October 1918, an order was issued to prepare her for shipment to France, but the end of the war prevented her deployment overseas. Instead, she moved south in December 1918, likely for service at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. She was decommissioned at Key West, transferred to the Coast Guard on November 22, 1919, and renamed Arrow on December 16, 1919. Later reclassified as a harbor launch (AB-2), she was deemed unfit for further service and was transferred to the Shipping Board for disposal in March 1925.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.