The wooden-hulled tug Albert Brown was acquired by the Navy from W. P. Orr, Jr., of Bristol, Maine

Bristol, Maine

Bristol is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,644 at the 2000 census. A fishing and resort area, Bristol includes the villages of New Harbor, Pemaquid, Round Pond, Bristol Mills and Chamberlain. It includes the Pemaquid Archeological Site, a U.S. National...

, on 20 May 1917 and commissioned on 3 July 1917. Less than a month later, on 28 July 1917, Admiral William S. Benson, as Acting Secretary of the Navy, promulgated General Order No. 314 which decreed that all "scout patrol" vessels with compound names would hence forth be officially known by surname only. Thus Albert Brown (SP-1050) become simply Brown (SP-1050), a name she used continually throughout her commissioned service.

The 103-foot patrol and minesweeping tug, was built at Bristol, Maine, in 1875 as a steam fishing trawler. She was rebuilt in 1897 and remained active in the Menhaden fishery, operating out of Lewes, Delaware

Lewes, Delaware

Lewes is an incorporated city in Sussex County, Delaware, USA, on the Delmarva Peninsula. According to the 2010 census, the population is 2,747, a decrease of 6.3% from 2000....

, until taken over by the Navy for World War I service. She served in the Delaware Bay area. In 1919 or early 1920, she was reported to be sunk at the Naval Air Station, Cape May, New Jersey

Cape May, New Jersey

Cape May is a city at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean and is one of the country's oldest vacation resort destinations. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 United States...

, and was stricken from the Navy list in March 1920. After efforts to sell the wreck were unsuccessful, Albert Brown's remains were removed by Army Engineers. She was officially abandoned by the Navy in early 1923.