The USS Vitesse (SP-1192) was a wooden-hulled motorboat built in 1917 by the Greenport Basin and Construction Company in Greenport, Long Island, New York. Designed as a private craft, she was constructed during a period of heightened naval preparedness preceding U.S. entry into World War I. The vessel was acquired by the U.S. Navy in July 1917 through a free lease from owner Charles Fry and was commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on July 18, 1917. Initially commanded temporarily by Machinist's Mate Second Class Charles Fry, command was later assumed by Lieutenant, junior grade, E. C. Sweeney. Vitesse was outfitted for patrol duties, receiving a single 3-pounder gun mounted on a pedestal as her main armament, installed at Essington, Pennsylvania, in early August 1917. She also carried a Colt machine gun as secondary armament. Her primary mission was harbor entrance patrol along the Delaware Bay and surrounding areas, operating from a section base at Cape May, New Jersey, as part of the 4th Naval District. Throughout her service, Vitesse conducted patrols off submarine defenses, identified passing vessels, and occasionally transported dispatches. Notably, she escorted the flagship USS Aloha during an inspection off Lewes, Delaware, in June 1918, and carried high-ranking naval officers on inspection trips within Philadelphia harbor in September 1918. Later, she was based at Lewes, continuing patrols until the end of World War I. Vitesse's wartime service concluded shortly after the armistice, with her departing Lewes on November 24, 1918, to offload ammunition at Fort Mifflin before arriving in Philadelphia later that day. She was decommissioned on December 3, 1918, stricken from the Navy List on December 4, and returned to her owner, Charles Fry. Her service exemplifies the use of small, privately built vessels in naval patrol roles during World War I, contributing to harbor security and naval inspection efforts along the U.S. Atlantic coast.

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