Figure 1: SS Massachusetts (American coastal steamer, 1907) shown after she was purchased and remodeled by the Eastern Steamship Corporation in 1912. The postcard bearing this image was postmarked at New York on 25 August 1914 by a passenger who had apparently become seasick on the passage from Boston, Massachusetts. This ship became the minelayer USS Shawmut in January 1918 and was renamed USS Oglala in 1928. Donation of Captain Stephen S. Roberts, USNR (Retired), 2008. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: USS Shawmut operating at sea in October 1918, during the laying of the North Sea mine barrage. The ship is painted in a disruptive camouflage scheme. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: USS Shawmut (CM-4) at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 1920. A Curtiss N-9 aircraft is on the water by her stern and another is resting on her after deck. A "Sea Sled" and motor launch are tied up along her starboard side. Courtesy of the US Naval Institute Photo Collection. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: USS Shawmut (CM-4) in the Caribbean area, April 1924. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: USS Shawmut (CM-4) at anchor with seven "S" and "R" class submarines alongside, circa the mid-1920s. Location is probably Christobal, Panama Canal Zone. Note: The original caption identifies this ship as USS Aroostook (CM-3). However, the searchlight on her foremast, and other details, confirm that she is actually Shawmut. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: USS Shawmut (CM-4) in the Hudson River, New York, with YO-5 alongside, 2 May 1927. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 7: USS Oglala (CM-4) photographed circa the late 1920s, soon after she was refitted with new boilers and a single smokestack. Note pine trees suspended from her jackstaff and foremast yards. USS Overton (DD-239) is among the destroyers visible in the left background. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 8: USS Oglala (CM-4) alongside the Pearl Harbor Supply Depot, 17 September 1941. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 9: "The Japanese Sneak Attack on Pearl Harbor." Charcoal and chalk painting by Commander Griffith Bailey Coale, USNR, Official U.S. Navy Combat Artist, 1944. This artwork "... shows the destruction wrought on ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet attacked in their berths by scores of enemy torpedo planes, horizontal and dive bombers on December 7, 1941. At the extreme left is the stern of the cruiser Helena, while the battleship Nevada steams past and three geysers, caused by near bomb misses, surround her. In the immediate foreground is the capsizing minelayer Oglala. The battleship to the rear of the Oglala is the California, which has already settled. At the right, the hull of the capsized Oklahoma can be seen in front of the Maryland; the West Virginia in front of the Tennessee; and the Arizona settling astern of the Vestal ..., seen at the extreme right. The artist put this whole scene together for the first time in the early summer of 1944, from 1010 Dock, in Pearl Harbor, where he was ordered for this duty. Coale worked under the guidance of Admiral William R. Furlong, Commandant of the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, who stepped from his Flagship, the Oglala, as she capsized." (quoted from the original Combat Art description). Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Center, Washington, DC. Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 10: Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941, view from Pier 1010, looking toward the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard's dry docks. In the foreground is the capsized USS Oglala (CM-4), with USS Helena (CL-50) further down the pier, at left. Beyond Helena is Dry Dock Number One, with USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) and the burning destroyers Cassin (DD-372) and Downes (DD-375). Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 11: Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941, view looking toward 1010 Dock, with USS Oglala (CM-4) capsized in the foreground. To the left is USS Argonne (AG-31), with USS Sacramento (PG-19) barely visible beyond her. Collection of Vice Admiral Homer N. Wallin. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 12: USS Oglala (CM-4) capsized alongside 1010 dock at Pearl Harbor, 9 December 1941. She was sunk during the Japanese air raid two days earlier. Preliminary salvage work on her is already underway "Battleship Row," by Ford Island is in the distance, with USS Maryland (BB-46) in center, alongside the capsized USS Oklahoma (BB-37). Astern are USS West Virginia (BB-48), sunk alongside USS Tennessee (BB-44). Farthest to the right are the sunken and burned-out remains of USS Arizona (BB-39). Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 13: USS Oglala (CM-4) capsized to port beside Pearl Harbor's 1010 Dock, circa January 1942. She had been sunk during the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941. An oiler is at the Ford Island gasoline wharf in the center distance. In the extreme right distance is the capsized hull of USS Oklahoma (BB-37). Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 14: USS Oglala (CM-4) under salvage alongside 1010 dock at Pearl Harbor in early 1942. She had capsized there during the 7 December 1941 Japanese raid. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 15: USS Oglala (CM-4) capsized alongside 1010 dock at Pearl Harbor, with salvage work underway, 17 March 1942. Chains encircling her hull are part of the righting tackle. USS West Virginia (BB-48) and USS Arizona (BB-39) are sunk in the middle distance. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 16: USS Oglala (CM-4) under salvage alongside 1010 Dock, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, circa 11 April 1942. YSP-13 and YSP-15 are among the salvage pontoons being used to try to raise Oglala's capsized hull. An oiler and the sunken USS West Virginia (BB-48) are in the background. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 17: USS Oglala (CM-4) at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard in mid-1942, after she was salvaged. The ship had been sunk alongside Pearl Harbor's 1010 Dock during the 7 December 1941 Japanese air attack. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 18: USS Oglala (CM-4) at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard following completion of salvage and initial repairs, circa December 1942. Oglala left Pearl Harbor for the west coast on 23 December of that year. She had been sunk in the 7 December 1941 Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 19: USS Oglala (ARG-1) photographed in the southwestern Pacific area, circa 1944. She is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 6d. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 20: USS Oglala (ARG-1) being scrapped at the Joffe Brothers Ship Breaking Yard, Richmond, California, 3 December 1965. Photographed by Lieutenant J.R. Shackleton, USNR. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
The fast coastal freighter SS Massachusetts was built in 1907 by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, and was operated by the Fall River Line. In 1912, she was purchased by the Eastern Steamship Corporation and converted into a coastal passenger liner. In 1917, the ship was purchased by the US Navy and was converted into a minelayer. On 7 January 1918, the 3,746-ton minelayer was renamed USS Shawmut (CM-4) and was sent to Great Britain to participate in the deployment of the great anti-submarine mine barrage in the North Sea. The ship was approximately 386 feet long and 52 feet wide, had a top speed of 14 knots, and had a crew of 407 officers and men.
Shawmut spent the rest of World War I working on the North Sea Mine Barrage. In December 1918, she returned to the United States and for the next 20 years served as an aircraft tender and a minelayer. To avoid confusion with the USS Chaumont (AP-5), the ship was renamed Oglala (after a Sioux Indian tribe) in January 1928. At that time, the ship underwent a major overhaul and substantial modifications, including a change in her appearance (she went from having two smokestacks to one). Although old and obsolete by the start of World War II in September 1939, by 1941 Oglala still was functioning as the US Navy’s principal minelayer.
On 7 December 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. On that day, Oglala was serving as the flagship of the Pacific Fleet Mine Force and was tied up outboard and alongside of the light cruiser USS Helena. They were tied up to Pier 1010 at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard when the two ships were attacked by the first wave of Japanese planes. A torpedo was dropped by an attacking aircraft and it ran underneath Oglala and hit Helena’s starboard side. The torpedo’s massive explosion tore a huge hole in Oglala amidships and the minelayer started to flood rapidly. A bomb also exploded next to Oglala, causing even more underwater damage. As the old ship began to sink, Oglala was moved aft of Helena so that it would not pin the cruiser against the dock. Two hours after being hit, Oglala rolled over to port and sank adjacent to Pier 1010.
Oglala initially was declared a total loss and the only salvage goal was to clear the sunken hulk from the pier so that it could be used for other warships. But for some reason, a decision was made to fully recover and repair the battered ship. The salvage effort proved to be an enormous task and 15 to 18 divers worked on the ship for nearly 2,000 hours, patching her hull, rigging chains, cutting away unwanted metal, and preparing the ship to be refloated. Ten salvage pontoons were used to drag Oglala upright as air was pumped into her to lighten the ship. The first attempt at righting the ship was made on 11 April 1942, but it failed after several connecting chains broke. Twelve days later, the second attempt at righting the ship succeeded, though Oglala was still mostly underwater. A big wooden cofferdam was constructed around her decks to enable water to be pumped out from her interior. The ship was briefly refloated in June, but sank on 26 June when a pump failed and the resulting flooding in the forward part of the ship dragged her down again. She was refloated on 29 June, but then sank again when the cofferdam broke. After being raised again a few days later, an unfortunate fire on 2 July almost sank the ship for a fourth time, but this time Oglala managed to remain afloat and was quickly placed in a dry dock. She was given temporary repairs throughout the rest of 1942 and in December finally left Pearl Harbor under her own power for California, where she received an extensive overhaul. Oglala had just been the beneficiary of one of the most complicated and extensive salvage operations in US Navy history.
Through 1943 and into 1944, Oglala was given permanent repairs and was converted into an internal combustion engine repair ship. The ship now was armed with one 5-inch gun, four 3-inch guns, and four 40-mm guns. Oglala was re-designated ARG-1 on 21 May 1943 and was re-commissioned on 28 February 1944. Oglala was sent to Milne Bay, New Guinea, in April 1944 and tended to patrol, mine, and landing craft. In July, the ship was sent to Hollandia, New Guinea, and in December she moved to Leyte in the Philippine Islands. Oglala returned to the United States in early 1946 and was decommissioned at San Francisco on 11 July 1946. She was struck from the Navy List and was transferred to the Maritime Commission the next day. Oglala was placed in reserve until September 1965, when she was sold for scrapping.
This tough old warship, which started life as a freighter and then was a passenger liner, ended up serving in two wars and received a new lease on life after enduring one of the most amazing salvage efforts in modern naval history. Few may know her name today, but this was a remarkable career for a ship that was never intended to serve in the Navy to begin with.
