{{short description|Torpedo boat of the United States Navy}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=Stiletto (wooden torpedo boat). Starboard side, 1891 - NARA - 512900.tif |image_caption=''Stiletto'' in 1891 }}
|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country=United States |flag={{USN flag|1911}} |name= |namesake= |ordered= |builder=Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. |laid_down=1885 |launched= |acquired=3 March 1887 |commissioned= |decommissioned= |in_service=July 1887 |out_of_service= |struck=27 January 1911 |reinstated= |honours= |fate=Sold for scrap 18 July 1911 |notes= }}
|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class= |displacement=31 tons |length={{cvt|94|ft}} |beam={{cvt|11|ft|6|in}} |draught= |draft={{cvt|5|ft}} |propulsion= |speed=23.3 knots |range= |complement=6 |sensors= |EW= |armament= |armour= |armor= |aircraft= |notes= }} }}
'''USS ''Stiletto''''', a wooden torpedo boat, was launched in 1885 at the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., Bristol, Rhode Island, as a private speculation. She was purchased for the United States Navy under an Act of Congress dated 3 March 1887, and entered service in July 1887, attached to the Naval Torpedo Station in Newport Rhode Island.
== History == On 10 June 1885, she raced the paddle steamer ''Mary Powell'', easily overtaking her. The next day, she beat the sailing racing yacht ''Atalanta''.<ref>[https://laststandonzombieisland.com/tag/torpedo-station-newport/ Warship Wednesday, August 23, 2017: ‘Great Scott and huckleberries, look at that!’ ]</ref>
''Stiletto'' was the Navy's first torpedo boat capable of launching self-propelled torpedoes. Purchased for experimental evaluation, ''Stiletto'' was based throughout her career at Newport and often captained by Andrew Wright. During 1897, she was modified to burn fuel oil, but results of sea trials held subsequently were disappointing, and the experiment was not repeated. On 14 July 1897 she fouled steam yacht ''Nautilus'' ({{flag|United States|1896}}) at Bristol, Connecticut, doing minor damage to the yacht.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435066693086&view=1up&seq=40 |pages=40–6 |title=Annual report of the Supervising Inspector-general Steamboat-inspection Service, Year ending June 30, 1898 |location=Washington |publisher=Government Printing Office |date=1898|via=Haithi Trust |accessdate=1 April 2020}}</ref> ''Stiletto'' was struck from the Navy list on 27 January 1911 and sold on 18 July 1911 at Newport to James F. Nolan of East Boston, Massachusetts for scrapping.
<gallery widths=180 class=center caption="Various states of ''Stiletto''"> File:Stiletto plans-IMG 5919.JPG|Construction plan File:Stiletto plans-IMG 5921.JPG|Engine plan File:Model of Stiletto 1885 at MIT-IMG 5917-white.jpg|model of "Stiletto" (1885) at MIT, made by Pat Bianco in 1996, on loan from the Naval War College Museum File:Stebbins-49-Stiletto.jpg|''Stiletto'' in 1887 </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}} * {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/stiletto.html}}
==External links== * {{commons category-inline|Stiletto (ship, 1885)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stiletto}} Category:Torpedo boats of the United States Navy