- References
{{Infobox ship image| Ship image= | Ship caption=
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header= | Ship country=United States | 1917}} | Ship name=USS L. A. Dempsey | Ship namesake=Previous name retained | Ship owner= | Ship operator= | Ship registry= | Ship route= | Ship ordered= | Ship awarded= | Ship builder= | Ship original cost= | Ship yard number= | Ship way number= | Ship laid down= | Ship launched= | Ship sponsor= | Ship christened= | Ship completed=1890 | Ship acquired=13 September 1917 | Ship commissioned=1917 | Ship recommissioned= | Ship decommissioned=11 July 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=Returned to owner 11 July 1919 | Ship status= | Ship notes=Operated as commercial tug Mascot and L. A. Dempsey 1890-1917 and from 1919 | Ship badge=
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header= | Header caption= | Ship class= | Ship type=Patrol vessel and tug | Ship tonnage=41 gross tons | Ship displacement= | Ship tons burthen= | 62|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} | 15|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}} | Ship height= | Ship draught= | 6|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} | Ship depth= | Ship hold depth= | Ship decks= | Ship deck clearance= | Ship ramps= | Ship ice class= | Ship power= | Ship propulsion= | Ship sail plan= | Ship speed=7.8 knots | Ship range= | Ship endurance= | Ship test depth= | Ship boats= | Ship capacity= | Ship troops= | Ship complement=8 | Ship crew= | Ship time to activate= | Ship sensors= | Ship EW= | Ship armament=1 × 3-pounder | Ship armour= | Ship armor= | Ship aircraft= | Ship aircraft facilities= | Ship notes=
}} | USS L. A. Dempsey (SP-1231) was a United States Navy armed tug that was in commission as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1919. L. A. Dempsey was built as the commercial tug Mascot in 1890 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She later was renamed L. A. Dempsey. On 13 September 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, Dempsey & Son of Norfolk, Virginia, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned as USS L. A. Dempsey (SP-1231). Assigned to the 5th Naval District and based at Norfolk, L. A. Dempsey served as a section patrol boat for the rest of World War I and into 1919. The Navy decommissioned L. A. Dempsey on 11 July 1919 and returned her to Dempsey & Son the same day. References- {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/l1/l_a_dempsey.htm}}
- SP-1231 L. A. Dempsey at Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships -- Listed by Hull Number "SP" #s and "ID" #s -- World War I Era Patrol Vessels and other Acquired Ships and Craft numbered from SP-1200 through SP-1299
- NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive L. A. Dempsey (SP 1231)
{{DEFAULTSORT:L. A. Dempsey (SP-1231)}} 5 : Tugs of the United States Navy|Patrol vessels of the United States Navy|World War I patrol vessels of the United States|Ships built in Philadelphia|1890 ships |