The USS Shrewsbury (SP-70) was an armed motorboat that served as a patrol vessel for the United States Navy during World War I, from 1917 to 1919. Originally built in 1910 by George Lawley & Son in Neponset, Massachusetts, the vessel initially operated as a private motorboat named Mona. Over time, she was renamed Gipsy and later Topsy before being acquired by the Navy. At the time of her procurement, she was owned by N. H. McCarter of Newark, New Jersey. Constructed as a motorboat, the USS Shrewsbury was commissioned into Navy service on 23 April 1917, shortly after her acquisition from her private owner on 13 April 1917. She was designated with the hull number SP-70, indicating her role as a section patrol vessel. Her primary operational area was within the 4th Naval District, where she conducted patrols along the central United States East Coast during the war. Her duties would have included harbor defense, escorting ships, and general patrol activities to safeguard against enemy submarines and surface threats. The vessel's service concluded shortly after the end of World War I. She was stricken from the Navy List on 16 September 1919, marking the end of her military career, and was subsequently sold—either on 20 or 29 October 1919—to Charles S. McCulloh of New York City. The USS Shrewsbury's significance lies in her role as a privately built vessel repurposed for wartime patrol duties, exemplifying the use of civilian vessels by the U.S. Navy during World War I to bolster coastal defenses. Her service reflects the broader pattern of rapid naval expansion and utilization of private craft during the wartime emergency.

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