SS Sappho prior to her United States Navy service.
History
United States
Name	USS Sappho
Namesake	Sappho, a 5th-century BC Greek poet (previous name retained)
Builder	New England Shipbuilding Company, Bath, Maine
Completed	1886
Acquired	6 August 1918
Commissioned	20 August 1918
Decommissioned	18 February 1919
Fate	Returned to owner 18 February 1919
Notes	In commercial service as ferry steamer SS Sappho 1886-1918 and from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Ferry transport
Tonnage	275 Gross register tons
Length	149 ft 9.5 in (45.657 m)
Beam	28 ft 9.5 in (8.776 m)
Draft	10 ft (3.0 m)
Propulsion	Steam engine
Speed	15 knots (maximum)

The first USS Sappho (ID-1427) was a United States Navy ferry transport in commission from 1918 to 1919.

Sappho was built in 1886 as a wooden-hulled commercial ferry steamer SS Sappho at Bath, Maine, by New England Shipbuilding Company. The U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, William C. Sproul of Chester, Pennsylvania, for World War I service on 6 August 1918 and commissioned her on 20 August 1918 as USS Sappho.

Sappho was assigned to the 4th Naval District for local transport duty, providing transportation between the Philadelphia Navy Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and nearby ports in New York and New Jersey.

Five days after Sappho was commissioned, SS Delaware accidentally rammed her on 25 August 1918. Repairs were complete by 20 October 1918, allowing Sappho to resume transport service.

Sappho was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 18 February 1919, and returned to her owner the same day. Her Navy crew was returned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard by the tug USS Triton (YT-10).

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Sappho (SP-1427), 1918-1919. Originally the civilian ferry steamer Sappho.
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Sappho (ID 1427)