History
United States
Name	USS Onset
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Hacketts, Bayonne, New Jersey
Completed	1888
Acquired	15 June 1917
Commissioned	1917
Decommissioned	21 December 1918
Fate	Returned to owner 21 December 1918
Notes	Operated as private motorboat Onset 1888-1917 and from 1918
General characteristics
Type	Patrol vessel
Tonnage	5 Gross register tons
Length	40 ft 0 in (12.19 m)
Beam	13 ft 0 in (3.96 m)
Draft	2 ft 6 in (0.76 m)
Speed	6 knots
Complement	6
Armament	1 × 1-pounder gun

USS Onset (SP-1224) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.

Onset was built as a private motorboat of the same name in 1888 by Hacketts at Bayonne, New Jersey. She was rebuilt in 1910. On 15 June 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired Onset from her owner, W. H. Steelman of Chincoteague, Virginia, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Onset (SP-1224).

Assigned to the 5th Naval District and based at Norfolk, Virginia, Onset performed patrol duties for the rest of World War I.

The Navy decommissioned Onset on 21 December 1918 and returned her to Steelman the same day.

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• SP-1224 Onset 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 Onset (SP 1224)