USS Vitesse ( SP - 1192 ) USS " Vitesse " ( SP - 1192 ) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918 . Construction , acquisition , and commissioning . " Vitesse " was built in 1917 as a private wooden - hulled motorboat of the same name by the Greenport Basin and Construction Company at Greenport on Long Island , New York . She was one of several similar craft constructed at that time by the same builder , probably a result of the national Preparedness Movement that arose in the United States in the months prior to the U . S . entry into World War I . In July 1917 , the U . S . Navy acquired " Vitesse " under a free lease from her owner , Charles Fry , for use as a section patrol boat during World War I . She was commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , on 18 July 1917 as USS " Vitesse " ( SP - 1192 ) with her owner , Machinist ' s Mate Second Class Charles Fry , USNRF , in temporary command . On 29 July 1917 , Lieutenant , junior grade , E . C . Sweeney , USNRF , assumed command . Operational history . Over the next few weeks , " Vitesse " remained in the Philadelphia area , fitting out for naval service . Her main battery , a single pedestal - mounted 3 - pounder gun , was installed at the Essington Ship Building Company at Essington , Pennsylvania , on 3 August 1917 . On 7 August 1917 , she received her secondary battery , a single Colt machine gun , and she took on ammunition at Fort Mifflin on 8 August 1917 . Assigned to operate from the section base at Cape May , New Jersey , as part of the 4th Naval District s harbor entrance patrol , " Vitesse " departed Philadelphia on the afternoon of 9 August 1917 , carrying 1 , 000 hymn book s for the chaplain at Cape May and confidential publications for the commander of the harbor entrance patrol there . She performed her initial patrol duty out of Sewall ' s Point and Cape May , patrolling assigned sectors , usually off submarine net defenses , speaking to and identifying passing naval and merchant vessels . In addition , she occasionally carried dispatches to other boats on patrol and stood by , ready to assist other nearby small craft in need of aid . " Vitesse " escorted the patrol vessel , the flagship of Rear Admiral Cameron McRae Winslow ( 1854 - 1932 ) , Inspector of Naval Districts , Atlantic Coast , when he inspected the wreck of the steamer SS " Herbert Pratt " off Lewes , Delaware , on 4 and 5 June 1918 . On 30 September 1918 , while operating temporarily out of the Corinthian Yacht Club near Philadelphia , she embarked Rear Admiral James M . Helm ( 1855 - 1927 ) , Commandant of the 4th Naval District , and Rear Admiral Hugo Osterhaus ( 1851 - 1927 ) , USN ( Ret . ) , from the Office of Naval Districts , as they toured Philadelphia harbor on an inspection trip . " Vitesse " later was rebased at Lewes , from which she patrolled through the end of World War I . Decommissioning and disposal . At 0605 hours on 24 November 1918 , " Vitesse " departed Lewes . She arrived at Fort Mifflin at 1600 hours the same day to offload ammunition . When that task was done , she proceeded to Pier 19 at Philadelphia , arriving there at 1715 the same day . She remained there until she was decommissioned on 3 December 1918 . She was stricken from the Navy List on 4 December 1918 and was simultaneously returned to Fry .