- Construction and acquisition
- Operational history
- Disposal
- References
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}{{Infobox ship image| Ship image=Tug Knickerbocker.jpg | Ship caption=Knickerbocker around the time the U.S. Navy acquired her for World War I service on 5 May 1917.
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header= | Ship country=United States | 1917}} | Ship name=USS Knickerbocker | Ship namesake=Previous name retained | Ship owner= | Ship operator= | Ship registry= | Ship route= | Ship ordered= | Ship awarded= | Ship builder=Neafie & Levy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Ship original cost= | Ship yard number= | Ship way number= | Ship laid down= | Ship launched= | Ship sponsor= | Ship christened= | Ship completed=1873 | Ship acquired=*Leased 2 May 1917- Purchased 13 September 1917
| Ship commissioned=22 September 1917 | Ship recommissioned= | Ship decommissioned= | Ship maiden voyage= | Ship in service= | Ship out of service= | Ship renamed= | Ship reclassified= | Ship refit= | Ship struck=16 March 1918 | Ship reinstated=April 1918
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header=yes | Ship struck=15 February 1919
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header=yes | Ship decommissioned=18 February 1919 | Ship maiden voyage= | Ship in service= | Ship out of service= | Ship renamed= | Ship reclassified= | Ship refit= | Ship struck= | Ship reinstated= | Ship homeport= | Ship identification= | Ship motto= | Ship nickname= | Ship honours= | Ship honors= | Ship captured= | Ship fate=Sold 18 February 1919 | Ship status= | Ship notes=Operated as commercial tug Knickerbocker 1873–1917 and from 1919 | Ship badge=
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header= | Header caption= | Ship class= | Ship type=Patrol vessel | Ship tonnage=123 gross register tons | Ship displacement= | Ship tons burthen= | 110|ft|m|abbr=on}} | 23|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}} | Ship height= | Ship draught= | 11|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship depth= | Ship hold depth= | Ship decks= | Ship deck clearance= | Ship ramps= | Ship ice class= | Ship power= | Ship propulsion=Steam engine | Ship sail plan= | Ship speed=9 knots | Ship range= | Ship endurance= | Ship test depth= | Ship boats= | Ship capacity= | Ship troops= | Ship complement= | Ship crew= | Ship time to activate= | Ship sensors= | Ship EW= | Ship armament= | Ship armour= | Ship armor= | Ship aircraft= | Ship aircraft facilities= | Ship notes=
}} | USS Knickerbocker (SP-479), was a United States Navy tug, minesweeper, and dispatch ship in commission from 1917 to 1919. Construction and acquisitionKnickerbocker was built as a commercial tug of the same name in 1873 by Neafie & Levy at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was rebuilt in 1904. The U.S. Navy leased Knickerbocker from her owner, the Cornell Steamboat Company of New York City, on 2 May 1917 for use during World War I and enrolled her in the Navy Coast Defense Reserve, then purchased her outright from Cornell Steamboat on 13 September 1917. She was commissioned at New York City as USS Knickerbocker (SP-479) on 22 September 1917 with Boatswain M. J. Lounsbery, USNRF, in command. Operational historyAssigned to the 3rd Naval District, Knickerbocker operated on the Hudson River and in New York Harbor as a minesweeper, tug, and dispatch ship. Though Knickerbocker was ordered stricken from the Navy List on 14 March 1918 due to her poor material condition and accordingly was stricken on 16 March 1918, a scarcity of tugs resulted in her retention for harbor duty, and she was reinstated on the Navy List in April 1918. On 30 December 1918, Knickerbocker was assigned as tender to the training and guard ship {{USS|Amphitrite|BM-2|6}} and served as a dispatch ship. DisposalKnickerbocker was decommissioned on 18 February 1919 and was sold the same day to Francis J. McDonald of Ardmore, Pennsylvania. References- {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/k4/knickerbocker.htm}}
- Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Knickerbocker (Harbor Tug, 1873). Served as USS Knickerbocker (SP-479) in 1917–1919
- NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Knickerbocker (SP 479)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knickerbocker (SP-479)}} 6 : Auxiliary ships of the United States Navy|World War I auxiliary ships of the United States|Minesweepers of the United States Navy|World War I minesweepers of the United States|Ships built in Philadelphia|1873 ships |