- References
{{For|USS Panaman|USS Panaman (ID-3299)}}{{Infobox ship image| Ship image=Motorboat Panama (1914).jpg | Ship caption=Panama as a civilian motorboat, sometime between 1914 and 1917.
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header= | Ship country=United States | 1917}} | Ship name=USS Panama | Ship namesake=Previous name retained | Ship owner= | Ship operator= | Ship registry= | Ship route= | Ship ordered= | Ship awarded= | Ship builder=Luther Finder, Key West, Florida | Ship original cost= | Ship yard number= | Ship way number= | Ship laid down= | Ship launched= | Ship sponsor= | Ship christened= | Ship completed=1914 | Ship acquired=29 April 1917 | Ship commissioned=26 May 1917 | Ship recommissioned= | Ship decommissioned= | 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=Transferred to United States Department of Agriculture 4 November 1920 | Ship status= | Ship notes=Operated as private motorboat Panama 1914-1917 | Ship badge=
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header= | Header caption= | Ship class= | Ship type=Patrol vessel | Ship tonnage= | Ship displacement=78 tons | Ship tons burthen= | 78|ft|m|abbr=on}} | 21|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship height= | Ship draught= | 4|ft|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=9.5 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=*1 × 3-pounder gun | Ship armour= | Ship armor= | Ship aircraft= | Ship aircraft facilities= | Ship notes=
}} | USS Panama (SP-101) was an armed motorboat that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1917 to 1920. Panama was built as a civilian motorboat in 1914 by Luther Finder, at Key West, Florida. During her period in commercial service, she saw extensive use in laying underwater telegraph cable for Western Union in and around Key West, and may also have been used as a passenger ship. The U.S. Navy acquired Panama from the Miami and Nassau Passenger Line on 29 April 1917 for use as a patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned on 26 May 1917 as USS Panama (SP-101). Panama was assigned to the 7th Naval District, headquartered at Key West. She patrolling in and around Key West during the war and occasionally operated in Caribbean waters. On 24 August 1918, during a voyage from the Panama Canal Zone to the United States, she sighted two possible German submarines on her port bow. She pursued them until dark, despite heavy weather which prevented a surface attack. Panama was transferred to the United States Department of Agriculture on 4 November 1920. References- {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/p1/panama.htm}}
- Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Panama (American Motor Boat, 1914). Served as USS Panama (SP-101) in 1917-1920
- NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Panama (SP 101)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panama (SP-101)}} 4 : Patrol vessels of the United States Navy|World War I patrol vessels of the United States|Ships built in Florida|1914 ships |