USS O’Brien (TB-29) was a Blakely-class torpedo boat

Torpedo boat

A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...

 in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 named after Captain

Captain (naval)

Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....

 Jeremiah O'Brien

Jeremiah O'Brien

Captain Jeremiah O’Brien was a captain in the Massachusetts State Navy. Prior to its existence Captain Jeremiah O’Brien (1744–1818) was a captain in the Massachusetts State Navy. Prior to its existence Captain Jeremiah O’Brien (1744–1818) was a captain in the Massachusetts State...

 and his five brothers, Gideon, John, William, Dennis and Joseph, who captured HMS Margaretta on 12 June 1775 during the American revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

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Built in New Jersey

The first ship to be so named by the Navy, O’Brien (Torpedo Boat 30) was laid down under the direct supervision of naval architect Arthur Leopold Busch

Arthur Leopold Busch

Arthur Leopold Busch or Du Busc was a British-born American naval architect responsible for the development of the United States Navy's first submarines.-Career:...

 at Navy Lt. Lewis Nixon

Lewis Nixon (naval architect)

Lewis Nixon I was a naval architect, shipbuilding executive, public servant, and political activist. He designed the United States' first modern battleships, and supervised the construction of its first modern submarines, all before his 40th birthday. He was briefly the leader of Tammany Hall...

's, Crescent Shipyard

Crescent Shipyard

Crescent Shipyard, located in Elizabeth, New Jersey, built a number of ships for the United States Navy and allied nations as well during their production run, which lasted about ten years while under the Crescent name and banner. Production of these ships began before the Spanish-American war and...

 of Elizabethport, New Jersey

Elizabethport, New Jersey

A neighborhood in the City of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Formerly home of the Singer Manufacturing Company, makers of Singer Sewing Machines....

, 29 December 1898; launched 24 September 1900; sponsored by Miss Mira O’Brien, great-great granddaughter of Joseph O’Brien; and commissioned 15 July 1905, Lt. Edward Woods in command.

Service with the U.S. Navy

Between August 1905 and April 1906, she operated with the coastal squadron between Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

, and Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...

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Inactivation

Placed in the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla 7 May 1906, at the Norfolk Navy Yard, she was struck from the Navy List

Navy List

A Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a country....

3 March 1909 and used as target.