Name USS Menhaden Completed 1905 Commissioned 21 May 1917 | Namesake Previous name retained Acquired May 1917 Length 30 m | |
 | ||
Builder C. W. Crockett, Pocomoke City, Maryland | ||
The first USS Menhaden (SP-847) was a United States Navy patrol vessel and tug in commission from 1917 to 1919.
Menhaden was built as a commercial tug of the same name in 1905 by C. W. Crockett at Pocomoke City, Maryland. In May 1917, the U.S. Navy chartered her from her owner, E. Benson Dennis of Cape Charles, Virginia, for use as a section patrol vessel during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Menhaden (SP-847) on 21 May 1917 with Ensign Edwin T. George, USNRF, in command.
Assigned to the 5th Naval District and based at Norfolk, Virginia, Menhaden provided tug and towing services and conducted harbor patrols in Hampton Roads for the rest of World War I and into 1919. She also provided support to the 5th Naval District's minesweepers.
Menhaden was returned to Dennis on 12 March 1919.