{{Short description|Type of small naval craft}} {{Distinguish |Radar picket|Packet boat}} thumb|right|US Coast Guard {{convert|36|ft|m|adj=on}} open cockpit picket boat of the 1920s A '''picket boat''' is a type of small naval craft. These are used for harbor patrol and other close inshore work, and have often been carried by larger warships as a ship's boat. They are usually 30 to 55 feet long.
Patrol boats, or any craft engaged in sentinel duty, are sometimes referred to as picket boats, using "picket" in the generic sense, even if much larger than actual picket boats. Picket boats were indeed at first steam pinnaces deployed to patrol anchorages to protect them from enemy torpedo boats, thus acquiring the new name "picket boat".{{citation needed|reason=We do have a citation for this, the book ''Boats of Men-of-war'' (revised and expanded edition) by W. E. May, 2003, London, Caxton Editions, ISBN 978-1840674316, pages 108 and 122, glommed from the article Ship's boat, but we don't have a copy handy at this time, so we can't vet it.|date=April 2023}}
==United States== thumb|right|38-foot United States Coast Guard Picket boat The Union's {{convert|45|ft|m|adj=on}} long steam-powered Picket Boat Number One sank the Confederate ironclad ''Albemarle'' in 1864. (Although named "Picket Boat", this craft has also been called a steam launch). The boat was armed with a 12-pounder Dahlgren gun and a spar torpedo, of which the latter was employed in sinking ''Albemarle''.<ref name=Priolo/><ref name=CYAH/> The Union's Potomac Flotilla also purchased and equipped some vessels to serve as picket boats, such as the ''USS Alpha'' and five other similar vessels on June 3,1864.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alpha I (Screw Tug) |url=http://public2.nhhcaws.local/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/alpha-i.html |access-date=2024-06-09 |website=public2.nhhcaws.local |language=en-US}}</ref>
A number of American warships of the 19th century carried picket boats, such as the {{USS|Vulcan|1884|6}} (her picket boat was heavily engaged by Spanish small-caliber shore fire during one incident in the Spanish–American War), and others.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
In the early 1920s, during Prohibition, the United States Coast Guard built a fleet of 103 picket boats to intercept rum runners, supplementing the larger and more seaworthy cutters and patrol boats. These boats were about {{convert|36|ft|m}} long, had no main fixed armament, and cost about {{Currency|8800}} (about ${{Inflation|US|8800|1924|fmt=c}}{{Inflation-fn|US}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars) to build.<ref name=USCG/>
A later picket boat, built between 1932 and 1943, was {{convert|38|ft|m}} long and also had no large main armament.<ref name=Dring/>
==Britain== thumb|right|A British {{convert|56|ft|m|adj=on}} picket boat, returning to its mothership (HMS ''Triumph'') after participating in action on April 18, 1915
A long-serving 19th-century British picket boat, carried on capital ships, was a {{convert|50|ft|m|adj=on}} model introduced in 1867 which saw wide service in World War I and even some limited service in World War II. The typical main armament during most of this boat's service life was a Hotchkiss 3–pounder, adopted by the Royal Navy in 1886.<ref name=Kemp/>
British pre-dreadnoughts, including {{HMS|Majestic|1895|6}} and {{HMS|Triumph|1903|6}}, carried picket boats.<ref name=Stapleton/>
The P1000 Class Picket Boat is a current British Royal Navy boat, {{convert|42|ft|m}} in length, formerly carried on destroyers but now used only for training.<ref name=Saumarez/> {{clear}}
==Germany== {{Unreferenced section|date=December 2015}} The ''Königsberg''–class cruisers of 1905 and 1915 carried a picket boat; the ''Königsbergs'' of 1927 carried two. The ''Dresden'' class of a similar era carried one, as did the ''Wiesbaden''–class.
Larger ships also carried picket boats: The ''Nassau''–, ''König''–, and ''Bayern''–class battleships, the ''SMS Seydlitz'', and the ''Derfflinger''–class battlecruisers all carried one each.
==See also== *Launch, a type which overlaps somewhat with picket boats * Radar picket, a larger ship or submarine, used to extend the range of radar coverage. *Crash boats of World War 2 *Wooden boats of World War 2
==References== <references>
<ref name=Priolo>{{cite web |url=http://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/86361.htm |title=Picket Boat Number One |author=Gary P. Priolo |website=NavSource |access-date=December 28, 2015}}</ref>
<ref name=CYAH>{{cite web |url=http://castyouranchorhobby.com/Item/MS2261 |title=MS2261 – USN Picket Boat #1 website |access-date=December 28, 2015}}</ref>
<ref name=USCG>{{cite web |url=https://www.uscg.mil/history/cutters/boats/docs/36FootPicketBoats.pdf |title=36–Foot Picket Boat (Open–Cockpit and Double–Cabin) |publisher=United States Coast Guard |access-date=December 28, 2015}}</ref>
<ref name=Saumarez>{{cite web |url=http://www.swmaritime.org.uk/article.php?articleid=1624&atype=a |title=Power Boat Training At Britannia Royal Naval College |number=81 |author=James Saumarez |date=December 2010 |work=SW Soundings |publisher=South West Maritime History Society |access-date=December 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619075924/http://www.swmaritime.org.uk/article.php?articleid=1624&atype=a |archive-date=June 19, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name=Kemp>{{cite web |url=http://theminiaturespage.com/news/798240 |title=New 28mm Royal Navy Picket Boat from HLBS |author=Richard Kemp |work=The Miniatures Page |access-date=December 28, 2015}}</ref>
<ref name=Dring>{{cite web |url=http://www.trdring.com/cabin-picket-boat-38ft.html |title=Cabin Picket Boat (38ft.) |author=Tim Dring |work=U.S. Life-Saving Service and U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Craft History |access-date=December 28, 2015}}</ref>
<ref name=Stapleton>{{cite book |last=Stapleton |first=N. B. J. |title=Steam Picket Boats and Other Small Steam Craft of the Royal Navy |year=1980 |publisher=Dalton |location=UK |isbn=0-900963-63-8 |page= }}</ref>
</references>
{{Ship's boats}}
Category:Military boats