USS Stinger (SP-1252) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919. Stinger was built in 1917 with the builder's name Herreshoff No. 312 by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company at Bristol, Rhode Island, as a private steam yacht for R. S. Russell of Boston, Massachusetts. Russell, who renamed her Stinger, had her built to a naval patrol boat design with the intention of making her available to the U.S. Navy in the event of war. Accordingly, the U.S. Navy purchased Stinger from Russell upon her completion in 1917 for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Stinger (SP-1252) on 11 December 1917.