USS Nirvana (SP-706), later USS SP-706, was a 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...

 patrol vessel in commission in 1917 and from 1918 to 1919.

Nirvana was built as the civilian motorboat Tarpon II in 1915 by S.O. Hauser at Staten Island, New York. She later was renamed Nirvana.

The U.S. Navy acquired Nirvana from her owner, M. S. Martin, on 21 May 1917 for 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...

 service as a patrol vessel on the section patrol

Section patrol

A Section Patrol craft was a civilian vessel registered by the United States Navy for potential service during and shortly after World War I....

. She was 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...

 as USS Nirvana (SP-706) on 10 August 1917.

Assigned to the 3rd Naval District, Nirvana reported to Fort Lafayette

Fort Lafayette

Fort Lafayette was an island coastal fortification in the Narrows of New York Harbor, built offshore from Fort Hamilton at the southern tip of what is now Bay Ridge in the New York City borough of Brooklyn...

 in New York Harbor on 18 August 1917 and patrolled between City Island in the Bronx and Fort Lafayette until 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 31 December 1917.

Recommissioning on 18 April 1918, Nirvana was renamed USS SP-706. She steamed to Erie, Pennsylvania, arriving there on 10 June 1918, and transferred to the 10th Naval District. She patrolled the Great Lakes

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

 through the end of World War I.

Returning to Marine Basin in New York City on 8 December 1918, SP-706 was decommissioned on 20 January 1919 and returned to her owner the same day.

USS Nirvana should not be confused with another patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918 under the name USS Nirvana II (SP-204)

USS Nirvana II (SP-204)

USS Nirvana II was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.Nirvana II was built as a civilian motorboat of the same name in 1916 by Brett Brothers at West Lynn, Massachusetts. The U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, J. Hartley Merrick of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on...

.