USS McKeever Brothers (SP-683)

USS McKeever Brothers (SP-683) off Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during World War I.
Career (United States)
Name:	USS McKeever Brothers
Namesake:	Previous name retained
Builder:	Robert Palmer & Sons, Noank, Connecticut
Completed:	1911
Acquired:	18 May 1917
Commissioned:	5 May 1917
Struck:	22 March 1919
Fate:	Sold 1 July 1919
Notes:	Operated as commercial fishing vessel McKeever Brothers 1911-1917
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol vessel and minesweeper
Length:	136 ft (41 m)
Beam:	24 ft (7.3 m)
Draft:	12 ft (3.7 m) mean
Propulsion:	Steam engine
Speed:	10 knots
Complement:	22
Armament:	2 x 3-pounder guns

USS McKeever Brothers (SP-683), sometimes written as USS McKeever Bros., was a United States Navy patrol vessel and minesweeper in commission from 1917 to 1919.

McKeever Brothers was built as a commercial steam "menhaden fisherman"-type fishing vessel of the same name by Robert Palmer & Sons at Noank, Connecticut, in 1911. In May 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owners, Steven W. McKeever and Edward J. McKeever, for use during World War I. Assigned the section patrol number 683, she was commissioned on 5 May 1917 as USS McKeever Brothers (SP-683). Her acquisition from the McKeevers apparently formally took place retrospectively on 18 May 1917.

Assigned to the 4th Naval District and based at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, McKeever Brothers conducted coastal and minesweeping patrols in the Delaware River and Delaware Bay for the remainder of World War I.

McKeever Brothers was decommissioned after the war, stricken from the Navy List on 22 May 1919, and sold on 1 July 1919.

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS McKeever Brothers (SP-683), 1917-1919
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive McKeever Brothers (SP 683)