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USS Admiral (SP-541)

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History
United States
NameUSS Admiral (SP 541)
BuilderAdams, Boothbay Harbor, ME
Launched1913
Acquired1 May 1917
Commissioned31 May 1917
FateTransferred to the Coast Guard 21 April 1919
United States
NameUSCGC Leader
Acquired16 December 1919
FateDestroyed by fire 2 April 1920.
General characteristics
Displacement35 t
Length73 ft (22 m)
Beam16 ft (4.9 m)
Draft8 ft (2.4 m)
Propulsiongasoline engine, one shaft.
Speed8 knots
Complement12
ArmamentOne 3-pounder and two .30 cal. machine guns

Admiral was a wooden-hulled motorboat built by Adams, of Boothbay, Maine, in 1913—was acquired by the United States Navy from the Governor of the state of Maine on 1 May 1917 for section patrol duty in the 1st Naval District. Assigned the classification SP-541, Admiral was placed in commission on 31 May 1917.

Regarded as an "excellent seagoing design" of "very heavy construction," and "perfectly sound," Admiral performed "especially good service ... in Boothbay Harbor . . . breaking ice and keeping the harbor clear" during her winter operations. The sketchy records that are extant for this craft show very little of the character of her operations, but do indicate that she continued patrol duties until well after the armistice of November 1918.

Transferred to the Coast Guard on 21 April 1919, Admiral was taken over by that service at Boston, that June, and stationed at Portsmouth, NH She was renamed Leader on 16 December 1919 in Coast Guard Circular Letter No. 118, but she did not serve long under that name; for, on 2 April 1920, her gasoline tank exploded, and the resultant fire destroyed the boat.

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