M-W and OED---1911 William Safire's column about Swiftboats says 1905(with no attribution). Using NewspaperArchive, 13 March, 1903. The Oshkosh(WI) _Daily Northwestern_ p.6 col 4 "...two small ones for W. E. Schaefer, each twenty feet long and a forty foot torpedo shaped speed boat for himself." Sam Clements