Dispatch boats were small boats, and sometimes large ships, tasked to carry military dispatches from ship to ship or from ship to shore or, in some cases from shore to shore. Dispatch boats were employed when other means of transmitting a message was not possible or safe or as quick.

Dispatch boats, which performed their dispatch-carrying duties only on a temporary basis, should not be confused with Packet ship

Packet ship

A "packet ship" was originally a vessel employed to carry post office mail packets to and from British embassies, colonies and outposts. In sea transport, a packet service is a regular, scheduled service, carrying freight and passengers...

s -- sometimes called packetboats or paquetbots

Mail steamer

Mail steamers were steamships which carried the mail across waterways, such as across an ocean or between islands, primarily during the 19th Century and early 20th Century, when the cost of sending a letter was declining to the point an ordinary person could afford the cost of sending a letter...

-- which were cargo ships which also routinely carried the mail from port to port.

Generally, dispatch boats served the military, and paquetbots served commerce.

Use of term by the U.S. Navy

Dispatch boat was a term used by the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 in its journal accounts to describe boats which carried messages, or mail—otherwise termed dispatches—between high ranking military officials aboard other ships or to land-based destinations.

Dispatch boats during the American Revolution

In 1776 the Continental Navy

Continental Navy

The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War, and was formed in 1775. Through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron, John Adams and vigorous Congressional support in the face of stiff opposition, the fleet cumulatively became relatively...

 ship Lynch

USS Lynch (1776)

USS Lynch was a schooner acquired as part of the Continental Navy in 1776. She served for over a year on the New England coast, interfering with British maritime trade when possible...

 was assigned dispatch boat duty and, after delivering her secret dispatches in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, set sail for the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 with French secret dispatches, only to be captured by the British, but not before destroying the French dispatches.

Dispatch boat race during the historic Battle of Trafalgar

Once the Battle of Trafalgar

Battle of Trafalgar

The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....

 had been decided in favor of the British in October 1805, the honor of delivering the news of the victory as well as the loss of Admiral Lord Nelson

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...

 belonged to the dispatch boat which first brought the news to the Admiralty

Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

A 1000-mile sea race from the location of the naval battle resulted between Lt. Lapenotiere in HMS Pickle

HMS Pickle (1800)

HMS Pickle was a topsail schooner of the Royal Navy. She was originally a civilian vessel named Sting. of six guns, that Lord Hugh Seymour purchased to use as an armed tender on the Jamaica Station...

 and Captain Sykes in HMS Nautilus with the Pickle reaching England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 first to deliver the dispatches to the Admiralty

Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

. For his outstanding effort in the race, Lt. Lapenotiere was awarded the then huge sum of 500 pound sterling

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

 cash prize and, in addition, was promoted to Commander.

Dispatch boats during the American Civil War

The American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 employed a large number of dispatch boats, such as the Massasoit

USS Massasoit (1863)

USS Massasoit was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.She was used by the Union Navy for anti-raider duty, bombardment duty, dispatch duty, and as a gunboat stationed off Confederate ports to prevent their trading with foreign countries.- Launched in Boston in 1863...

, the Gladiolus

USS Gladiolus (1864)

USS Gladiolus was a steamship acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.- A ship of many capabilities :Gladiolus was employed as a tugboat, a collier, a dispatch boat and a picket and patrol boat in support of the Union blockade of Southern waterways...

 and the Geranium

USS Geranium (1863)

USS Geranium was a steamship acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War for the purpose of using her as a tugboat in support of Union ships on the blockade of Southern waterways...

 among numerous others. General Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

 depended on dispatch boats during his Virginia campaign to correspond with Union Navy

Union Navy

The Union Navy is the label applied to the United States Navy during the American Civil War, to contrast it from its direct opponent, the Confederate States Navy...

 ships on the James River

James River (Virginia)

The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...

.

Dispatch boats during the late 19th and early 20th centuries

The US Navy did not have enough dispatch boats available during the Spanish-American War of 1898, so private yachts and tugboats used by newspapers were frequently tasked by the Navy to carry messages. The USS Vega (SP-734) was a US dispatch boat during World War I.

Demise of the dispatch boat

Dispatch boats became unnecessary with the advent of underwater cable and shipboard radio technology in the early 20th Century.