USS Chipper (SP-256)

The first USS "Chipper" (SP-256), later USS "SP-256", was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.
"Chipper" was built as a civilian motorboat of the same name in 1913 by the New York Yacht, Launch and Engine Company at Morris Heights in the Bronx, New York. The U.S. Navy leased her on 15 June 1917 from her owner, C. Wetherill of Erika, Virginia, for World War I service as a patrol vessel. She was commissioned about six weeks later, in late July 1917, as USS "Chipper" (SP-256).
"Chipper" spent the rest of World War I on section patrol duty along the United States East Coast. She was renamed USS "SP-256" in April 1918.
"SP-256" was returned to Wetherill on 4 December 1918.
"Chipper" should not be confused with another patrol vessel and ferryboat, USS "Chipper" (SP-1049), which also was in commission in the U.S. Navy during World War I.