Whitecap (S. P. 340)
A wave crest breaking into white foam.
The trawler Whitecap was built in 1916 at Manitowoc, Wis., by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. and, at the time of her acquisition by the Navy on 28 April 1917, was owned by the Bay State Fisheries Co., of South Boston, Mass. Assigned the classification S. P. 340, Whitecap was commissioned on 8 May 1917.
Initially attached to the 1st Naval District, Whitecap began operations out of the 2d Naval District in late February of 1918. During her career, Whitecap operated primarily out of Newport, R.I., patrolling between that base and New London, Conn. Occasionally, her coastal patrols took her to Nantucket Island, Block Island, and Montauk Point, as well as to New York City. When not at sea keeping tabs on the coastwise traffic of naval and merchant vessels, Whitecap performed local tow and escort service out of Newport.
Decommissioned at Boston, Mass., on 11 March 1919, Whitecap was returned to her previous owners on 1 April 1919. Her name was struck from the Navy list, and the ship resumed peacetime fishing pursuits.
