USS Arctic (SP-1158)
USS "Arctic" (SP-1158) was a wooden-hulled steam tug acquired by the US Navy during World War I. "Arctic" was briefly employed as a convoy escort during the war and later used to tow targets and transport ammunition. She was returned to commercial service in 1919. Service history. "Arctic" was built by Hall Bros. at Eagle Harbor, Washington, in 1913. She was inspected by the Navy on 17 October 1917 and found to be suitable for naval service. Accordingly, her owner, the Independent Asphalt Paving Co., of Seattle, Washington, delivered the tug to the Navy on 4  December 1917. Fitted out at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, and designated SP-1158, "Arctic" was placed in commission there on 15 January 1918, LTJG Ernest G. Heinrici, USNRF, in command. After escorting the submarine chaser to San Diego, "Arctic" towed two coal barges through the Panama Canal and proceeded to Hampton Roads, Virginia, where she arrived early in May and began preparations for "distant service." Assigned to Division 11, Patrol Force, "Arctic" departed New London, Connecticut, on 18 May as one of the escorts for a convoy that included 27 submarine chasers. After shepherding her charges to Bermuda , the tug proceeded on to Ponta Delgada, in the Azores, on escort duty before returning to New London in mid-August 1918. For the remainder of the year, she operated between New London, the Azores, and Bermuda. Assigned then to the Fleet Train, "Arctic" operated with the Atlantic Fleet from February to May 1919, towing targets during gunnery exercises out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transporting ammunition within the waters of the 5th Naval District. After proceeding from that port to Havana, "Arctic" was decommissioned on 8 July 1919, simultaneously stricken from the Naval Vessel Register, and turned over to  the M. J. Dady Engineering and Contracting Co., which had purchased the vessel from her prewar owner.