Note: USS Lynx II (SP-730) should not be confused with patrol vessel USS Lynx (SP-2)

USS Lynx (SP-2)

Note: USS Lynx should not be confused with patrol vessel USS Lynx II SP-730, later USS SP-730, which served in the United States Navy during the same period....

, which served served in the United States Navy during the same period.

USS Lynx II (SP-730), later USS SP-730, was an armed motorboat

Motorboat

A motorboat is a boat which is powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gearbox and the propeller in one portable unit.An inboard/outboard contains a hybrid of a...

 that served in 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...

 as a patrol vessel  and harbor

Harbor

A harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships, boats, and barges can seek shelter from stormy weather, or else are stored for future use. Harbors can be natural or artificial...

 dispatch boat

Dispatch boat

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...

 from 1917 to 1919.

Lynx II was built as a private motorboat of the same name for Nathaniel F. Ayer of Boston, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, in 1917 by Herreshoff Manufacturing Company at Bristol

Bristol, Rhode Island

Bristol is a town in and the historic county seat of Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,954 at the 2010 census. Bristol, a deepwater seaport, is named after Bristol, England....

, Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

, designed with Navy patrol service in mind. The U.S. Navy purchased her from Ayer on 14 June 1917. She was enrolled in the Naval Coast Defense Reserve on 21 June 1917, then commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 on 9 July 1917 at Boston with Chief Boatswain

Boatswain

A boatswain , bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun is an unlicensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. The boatswain supervises the other unlicensed members of the ship's deck department, and typically is not a watchstander, except on vessels with small crews...

s Mate S. O. Joyce, USNRF, in command for service during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

Assigned to the 1st Naval District, Lynx II throughout the period of the United States

United States

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

participation in World War I served as a dispatch boat

Dispatch boat

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...

 and dispatch and harbor

Harbor

A harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships, boats, and barges can seek shelter from stormy weather, or else are stored for future use. Harbors can be natural or artificial...

 patrol boat at Boston. She patrolled the Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 coast from Boston to Provincetown

Provincetown, Massachusetts

Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,431 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2007 population of 3,174...

. She also guided arriving and departing merchant ships through the defensive sea area of the Port of Boston

Port of Boston

The Port of Boston, , is a major seaport located in Boston Harbor and adjacent to the City of Boston...

. Probably to avoid confusion with patrol boat USS Lynx (SP-2)

USS Lynx (SP-2)

Note: USS Lynx should not be confused with patrol vessel USS Lynx II SP-730, later USS SP-730, which served in the United States Navy during the same period....

 -- another Ayer-built boat -- Lynx II was renamed USS SP-730 in 1918.

SP-730 was decommissioned

Ship decommissioning

To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....

 on 19 May 1919. She was sold on 2 September 1919 to Kemp Machinery Company of Baltimore, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

.