Figure 1: USS Penguin (originally Minesweeper # 33) steaming at full speed for Scapa Flow, 21 June 1919, during an unsuccessful effort to arrive in time to save some of the German warships scuttled there on that day. Note the identification letters "PD" on her bow. Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken by DeLong, of USS Black Hawk, published in the cruise book "Sweeping the North Sea Mine Barrage, 1919", page 38. Donation of Chief Storekeeper Charles A. Free. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: USS Penguin underway near USS Scranton (ID # 3511), probably circa 28 March 1919. Photograph from the USS Scranton photo album kept by J.D. Bartar, one of her crewmembers. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: USS Penguin close astern of USS Scranton (ID # 3511), as a Chief Petty Officer is "putting the heaving line 60 ft." between the two ships, circa 28 March 1919. Note the line's weight in the air above Penguin's bow. Photograph from the USS Scranton photo album kept by J.D. Bartar, one of her crewmembers. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: USS Penguin (now AM-33) underway off Shanghai, China, circa the later 1920s, following conversion for river gunboat service. Note the sampan in the foreground. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: USS Penguin (Minesweeper # 33), at left, and USS Lapwing (Minesweeper # 1), right. "Coming up to repass" sweep gear, after exploding a mine during the sweeping of the North Sea Mine Barrage in 1919. Note the identification letters on the ships' bows: "PD" on Penguin and "W" on Lapwing. Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken by DeLong, of USS Black Hawk, published in the cruise book "Sweeping the North Sea Mine Barrage, 1919", page 59. Donation of Chief Storekeeper Charles A. Free. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: "The Buoy Laying Division in Kirkwall Harbor." From left to right, in center: USS Osprey (Minesweeper # 29), USS Penguin (Minesweeper # 33), and USS Lapwing (Minesweeper # 1) moored together in Kirkwall Harbor, Orkney Islands, during the sweeping of the North Sea Mine Barrage, 1919. Note the identification letters on the ships' bows: "A" on Osprey, "PD" on Penguin and "W" on Lapwing. Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken by Kitress, of USS Swan, published in the cruise book "Sweeping the North Sea Mine Barrage, 1919", page 63. Donation of Chief Storekeeper Charles A. Free. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 7: USS Penguin liberty party gathered on the ship's stern, preparing to go ashore after reviewing the Fleet in New York Harbor, 26 December 1918. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 8: USS Penguin ship's Officers and Crew, 1919. Halftone reproduction of a photograph, published in the cruise book "Sweeping the North Sea Mine Barrage, 1919", page 137. Donation of Chief Storekeeper Charles A. Free. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
USS Penguin (AM-33) was a 1,009-ton Lapwing class minesweeper built at the New Jersey Dry Dock and Transportation Company, Elizabeth, New Jersey, and was commissioned on 21 November 1918. She was approximately 187 feet long and 35 feet wide, had a top speed of 14 knots and a crew of 78 officers and men. She was armed with two 3-inch guns and, later on in her career, also carried several machine guns.
Commissioned 10 days after the end of World War I, Penguin was assigned to minesweeping and salvage work in the New York area until 22 May 1919, when she was ordered to steam to Kirkwall, Scotland. On 5 June she joined the North Sea Minesweeping Detachment, which was given the task of clearing the North Sea Mine Barrage that was left over from the war. This was incredibly dangerous duty, especially in the turbulent waters of the North Sea. On 9 July, a mine exploded not far from Penguin, causing minor damage. But in August, while laying buoys for a minesweeping operation, another mine went off next to Penguin, this time causing serious damage to the ship. After temporary repairs were made to the ship at Chatham, England, Penguin was sent back to New York for more permanent repairs.
Penguin arrived in New York in November 1919 and, after a major overhaul, was sent to join the Pacific Fleet’s Mine Squadron 4, which was based in the eastern Pacific. Penguin continued working as a minesweeper until 1 June 1922, when she was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Pearl Harbor. Penguin was re-commissioned 13 October 1923 and was converted into a gunboat for service with the US Navy’s Asiatic Fleet. She left Pearl Harbor and headed west to become part of the famous “Yangtze Patrol” and was based at Shanghai. Although this was supposed to be only a “temporary” assignment, Penguin remained with the Yangtze Patrol for seven years, protecting American lives and property while battling Chinese pirates and warlords. In 1930, Penguin sailed to Cavite in the Philippines for a brief period of time before being ordered to go to Guam.
Throughout the 1930s, Penguin was assigned to various patrol and rescue duties around the island of Guam. With the coming of World War II in the Pacific, Japan invaded China and was making ominous moves towards many of the islands in the region. In 1941, Penguin was ordered to increase her patrols around Guam and to guard against any Japanese warships that could potentially threaten the island. No one really knew, though, what the small and poorly armed gunboat could do if it encountered units from the enormous Japanese Navy.
On the morning of 8 December 1941 (which was 7 December east of the International Date Line in Pearl Harbor), Penguin was returning from a patrol and had just entered the port at Agana, the capital of Guam. Soon after Penguin received word of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, scores of Japanese warplanes appeared over the island. Japanese aircraft quickly began making bombing runs on fuel storage tanks and other shore installations. As bombs began raining down on Guam, Penguin built up steam, slipped her mooring and moved away from the harbor. Hoping to reach the open sea, Penguin’s small guns managed to keep the Japanese aircraft away from her briefly but could not do so indefinitely. Soon several aircraft began bombing and strafing runs on Penguin. Although none of the bombs scored a direct hit, one group of bombs straddled Penguin, causing major damage to the ship. The explosions killed one crewman and wounded 60 others.
Remarkably, Penguin’s gunners managed to shoot down one of the attacking aircraft. But, with the ship leaking seriously, it was only a matter of time before the Japanese aircraft destroyed what was left of the crippled little gunboat. Therefore, Penguin’s captain, Lieutenant J.W. Haviland III, decided to scuttle his ship in 200 fathoms of water approximately one and a half miles off the coast of Guam, thereby preventing her from going down in shallow water and possibly being salvaged by the enemy at a later date. The crew abandoned ship and paddled to shore in life rafts. Those crewmen who were not seriously injured during the battle later assisted in the defense of Guam. It is not known how many of Penguin’s crew survived the war after the island fell to the Japanese on 10 December 1941.
USS Penguin was a little too late to serve in World War I and was sunk on the first day of World War II. In between that time, this brave little ship swept mines in the North Sea, was a successful gunboat with the Yangtze Patrol, and was used by the US Navy as a patrol and rescue vessel for the island of Guam. Although people could argue that the small and poorly armed Penguin did not represent much of an American naval presence in Guam, no one can say that the US Navy didn’t get its money’s worth out of this little warship.