The USS Kangaroo (SP-1284) was an armed motorboat constructed as a private vessel by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company in Bristol, Rhode Island, in May 1917. Identified as Herreshoff Hull #316, she was one of nine similar motorboats built in anticipation of being acquired by the U.S. Navy. The vessel was owned by Henry A. Morse of Marblehead, Massachusetts, who named her Kangaroo prior to her naval purchase. The Navy acquired her from Morse on September 18, 1917, and she was commissioned on December 10, 1917, serving as a patrol vessel during World War I. Kangaroo was assigned to the 1st Naval District, where she conducted section patrol and harbor patrol duties within Penobscot Bay, Maine. Her service in this area lasted until October 14, 1918, when she departed for Key West, Florida. An order issued on the same day aimed to prepare her, along with five other patrol boats, for shipment to Brest, France, as deck cargo to bolster naval operations there. However, this deployment was likely canceled following the armistice with Germany on November 11, 1918, which rendered additional patrol craft unnecessary in Europe. Instead, Kangaroo arrived at Key West on January 12, 1919, where she performed patrol and dispatch duties along the Florida Keys and Atlantic coastal waters. Her naval service concluded when she was decommissioned on May 20, 1919. Subsequently, she was transferred on November 22, 1919, to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for Coast Guard use, where she was commissioned as USCGC Kangaroo. Renamed USCGC AB-6 in 1923, she served in the Coast Guard until she was sold in 1932. The vessel’s service highlights her role as a versatile patrol craft during World War I and her subsequent contribution to coastal security efforts.

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