USS PGM-7

PLEASE NOTE: Due to changes in my schedule, we are now back to our normal schedule. The next ship will be featured on Tuesday, September 6.


Figure 1: USS PGM-7 photographed by the South Coast Company, Newport Beach, California, in January 1944. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS PGM-7 photographed by the South Coast Company, Newport Beach, California, on 7 January 1944. Courtesy US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS PGM-7 photographed by the South Coast Company, Newport Beach, California, in January 1944. Courtesy US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: Interior of bridge and mast details on board PGM-7. Date unknown. Photo by Kent Hitchcock, Marine and Commercial Photographer, Balboa, CA. Courtesy of the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: Interior of bridge of PGM-7. Date unknown. Photo by Kent Hitchcock, Marine and Commercial Photographer, Balboa, CA. Courtesy of the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: Interior of radio room on board PGM-7. Date unknown. Photo by Kent Hitchcock, Marine and Commercial Photographer, Balboa, CA. Courtesy of the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.



USS SC-1072 was a 95-ton submarine chaser that was built by the Mathis Yacht Building Company at Camden, New Jersey, and was commissioned on 28 June 1943. The ship was 110 feet long and 23 feet wide, had a top speed of 21 knots, and had a crew of 28 officers and men. This particular sub chaser was armed with one 3-inch gun, one 40-mm gun, and four twin .50-caliber machine guns (although weapons sometimes varied from ship to ship).

After being commissioned, SC-1072 served along America’s east coast. But on 10 December 1943, she was re-classified a gunboat and named PGM-7. This small gunboat then was transported all the way to the Solomon Islands for patrol duty. After PGM-7 arrived in the Solomon Islands, she immediately began patrolling the general area. But on the night of 18 July 1944, USS PGM-7 was lost in an accidental collision off Torokina, Bougainville Island. The ship sank a little more than a year after she was commissioned.

These are all the facts that can be found on this small ship. There were many such boats that were lost by the US Navy throughout the war. Few will ever know the names of the crewmembers that served on board these ships, let alone what they did. But they were just as much a part of the final victory over the Japanese and Germans as any of the larger warships possessed by the Allied navies. Their sacrifices should not be forgotten.

USS New Mexico (BB-40)

PLEASE NOTE: Due to a prior commitment, the next ship will be posted on Thursday, September 1. Thank You.


Figure 1: USS New Mexico (BB-40) photographed from an airplane while steaming in line with other battleships, 13 April 1919. Note S.E.5A airplane on the flying-off platform atop the battleship's second turret. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS New Mexico (BB-40) photographed during the early or middle 1920s. Note anchors hanging from her bow. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS New Mexico (BB-40) photographed by Tai Tsing Loo in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in about 1935. Collection of Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: USS New Mexico (BB-40) off the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, following overhaul, 6 October 1943. A barge and motor launch are alongside her port quarter, with sailors coming on board from the latter. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: USS New Mexico’s 5-inch guns prepare to fire during the bombardment of Saipan, 15 June 1944. Note time-fuse setters on the left side of each gun mount, each holding three "fixed" rounds of ammunition, and triple 14-inch guns in the background. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: USS New Mexico’s 14-inch projectiles on deck, while the battleship was replenishing her ammunition supply prior to the invasion of Guam, July 1944.The photograph looks forward on the starboard side, with triple 14-inch gun turrets at left. Note floater nets stowed atop the turrets. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: USS New Mexico (BB-40) firing her after 14-inch guns during the pre-invasion bombardment of Guam, circa 14-20 July 1944. Taken by a Combat Photo Unit Two (CPU-2) photographer, looking aft along the port side from the forward sky lookout position. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: USS New Mexico (BB-40) at sea with two other battleships and an amphibious force command ship (AGC), probably at the time of the Iwo Jima or Okinawa operations, circa February-April 1945. Battleship in the center background is USS Idaho (BB-42). The one further to the left is either Tennessee (BB-43) or California (BB-44). Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 9: USS New Mexico (BB-40) is hit by a "kamikaze" at dusk on 12 May 1945, while off Okinawa. Photographed from USS Wichita (CA-45). Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 10: USS New Mexico (BB-40) anchored in the Tokyo Bay area, circa late August 1945, at the end of World War II. Mount Fuji is in the background. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.



USS New Mexico (BB-40) was the lead ship of a class of three 32,000-ton battleships and was built by the New York Navy Yard at Brooklyn, New York, and commissioned on 20 May 1918. The ship was approximately 624 feet long and 97 feet wide, had a top speed of 21 knots, and had a crew of 1,084 officers and men. As built, New Mexico was armed with 12 14-inch guns, 14 5-inch guns, and four 3-inch guns, but this armament changed dramatically during the course of the ship’s career.

New Mexico was commissioned during World War I and spent the rest of the war patrolling off the east coast of the United States. She did, however, travel to Europe early in 1919 and escorted President Woodrow Wilson back to the United States from the Versailles peace conference in France. Later that year, New Mexico became the flagship of the US Pacific Fleet. She participated regularly in Battle Fleet exercises in both the Pacific and the Caribbean in the 1920s and the 1930s. The ship also visited Australia and New Zealand in 1925 and made numerous stops at South American ports during the 1920s.

New Mexico was overhauled and extensively modernized at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, beginning in March of 1931. The massive job was completed in January 1933 and it greatly altered her appearance. The ship’s original “cage” masts were replaced by a then-modern tower superstructure, and many other modifications were made to both her armament and thick armor protection. In 1940, New Mexico was based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as a deterrent to the Japanese Navy, but the ship was transferred to the Atlantic in May 1941 to reinforce the US Atlantic Fleet in case of war with Germany.

After America entered World War II on 7 December 1941, New Mexico returned to the Pacific in early 1942 to assist the Pacific Fleet that had been shattered at Pearl Harbor. During most of 1942, New Mexico patrolled off the west coast of the United States and around the Hawaiian Islands. From 6 December 1942 to 22 March 1943, New Mexico patrolled and escorted convoys in the southwest Pacific. She then steamed back to Pearl Harbor and went on to participate in the Aleutians campaign to recapture the islands of Attu and Kiska from the Japanese. On 17 May 1943, her massive guns were a major part of the bombardment of Kiska, which forced the Japanese to abandon the island a week later.

In late 1943 and early 1944, New Mexico provided heavy gunfire support for the invasions of the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. She bombarded Japanese positions on New Ireland in March of 1944, and in June and July New Mexico assisted in the successful American amphibious assaults on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. After those campaigns, New Mexico was sent to Bremerton, Washington, for an overhaul that lasted from August to October 1944. The ship was sent right back into battle and participated in the invasion of the Philippines. On 22 November, New Mexico arrived off Leyte Gulf and provided anti-aircraft cover for the troops heading for the beaches, and also served as a floating artillery platform to bombard enemy positions on shore. During the invasion of Luzon in the Philippines, New Mexico was constantly attacked by Japanese kamikaze suicide planes. On 5 January 1945, while bombarding enemy positions on shore, a kamikaze scored a direct hit on the bridge of the ship. The explosion killed New Mexico’s commanding officer, Captain R.W. Fleming, as well as 29 other crew members. Eighty-seven men were injured in the explosion and resulting fire. But the ship’s guns remained in action as the rest of the crew temporarily repaired the damage. The tough battleship remained in action until 9 January and then was ordered to return to Pearl Harbor for more permanent repairs.

After being repaired at Pearl Harbor, New Mexico was sent back into the thick of things. She left Pearl Harbor on 21 March 1945 and joined the invasion force for Okinawa. On 26 March, New Mexico and other ships in her task force opened fire on Okinawa. New Mexico kept up the bombardment until 17 April, as troops struggled on shore against the Japanese. On 21 and 29 April she again provided gunfire support for the troops on shore, and on 11 May New Mexico destroyed eight Japanese suicide boats that tried to ram the ship. But on 12 May, two kamikaze aircraft speeded toward the battleship. The first dove at her and missed as the ship put up a hail of anti-aircraft fire. But the second plane, which was also carrying a bomb, hit New Mexico. There was a giant explosion followed by an intense fire. Fifty-four men were killed and 119 were wounded. But once again New Mexico’s crew rose to the occasion and managed to put out the roaring fire within 30 minutes. On 28 May, New Mexico steamed to Leyte for repairs.

During the last few days of World War II, New Mexico began rehearsals in the Philippines for the invasion of mainland Japan. But with the dropping of the atom bombs, the war suddenly ended. On 16 August, New Mexico steamed to Okinawa to join the American occupation forces that were gathering there. She was present in Tokyo Bay when Japan formally surrendered on 2 September 1945. After that, New Mexico returned to the United States. She transited the Panama Canal and reached Boston, Massachusetts, on 17 October 1945. USS New Mexico was decommissioned there on 19 July 1946 and was sold for scrapping on 13 October 1947. The ship served in two World Wars, participated in numerous amphibious assaults, was hit and seriously damaged twice by Japanese kamikaze aircraft, and received six battle stars for her service during World War II.

USS Lake Champlain (CV-39, CVA-39, CVS-39)

Figure 1: USS Lake Champlain (CV-39) underway at sea on 23 June 1945, less than three weeks after she went into commission. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39) at anchor in Aden harbor, 18 May 1953, while she was enroute to take part in the Korean War. Among the planes on her flight deck are a few Douglas F3D "Skyknight" all-weather fighters, parked just in front of the carrier's island. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Lake Champlain (CVS-39) catapults a pair of F2H-2 "Banshee" jet fighters for her first Korean War strikes, 15 June 1953. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: "A flight of (F2H-2) Banshees streaks over the USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39) in a photo taken by an accompanying destroyer of Task Force 77. The Essex class carrier, recently arrived in the Far East, is in her first tour of Korean duty." Quoted from original caption released with this photograph by Commander Naval Forces Far East, under the date of 18 July 1953. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for lager image.


Figure 5: USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39) and USS Purdy (DD-734) refueling at sea from USS Neosho (AO-143) in the Mediterranean, 20 October 1955. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39) anchored at Cannes, France, on 17 June 1957, during her final deployment as an attack aircraft carrier. Among the planes on her flight deck are three large AJ "Savage" attack aircraft. Photographed by PH2 J.R. Sholar. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: USS Lake Champlain (CVS-39) underway at sea. The original print bears the rubber stamp date 1 July 1960. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: USS Lake Champlain (CVS-39) underway while conducting anti-submarine exercises in the western Atlantic, circa early 1965. The original print was received by "All Hands" magazine on 23 April 1965. Note flight deck markings on this ship, the last axial-deck fixed-wing aircraft carrier in U.S. Navy service. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 9: USS Lake Champlain (CVS-39) anchored at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, while making a liberty call after exhaustive anti-submarine warfare exercises in the Caribbean. Presence of Sikorsky HSS/SH-34 helicopters on her flight deck indicates that the photo was taken during the early 1960s. The original print was received by "All Hands" magazine on 23 April 1965. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 10: Gemini Titan 2 Suborbital Test, 19 January 1965. "U.S.S. Lake Champlain -- Navy frogmen place the floatation collar around the Gemini Titan 2 spacecraft. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched the spacecraft from Cape Kennedy, Jan. 19, 1965 at 9:03 and it was recovered by the recovery forces aboard the U.S.S. Lake Champlain some 2100 miles downrange at 10:45 a.m. Flight time was 19:03 minutes. Actual landing was 16 miles short of the programmed landing area." Quoted from the original caption released by NASA with this photograph. Lake Champlain (CVS-39) is in the background. One of her SH-3 helicopters is hovering over the spacecraft. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.



Named after a lake in New York where a major naval battle was fought during the War of 1812, USS Lake Champlain (CV-39) was a 27,100-ton Ticonderoga class aircraft carrier that was built by the Norfolk Navy Yard at Portsmouth, Virginia, and was commissioned 3 June 1945. The ship was approximately 888 feet long and 147 feet wide, had a top speed of 33 knots, and had a crew of 3,448 officers and men. As built, Lake Champlain was armed with 12 5-inch guns, 32 40-mm guns, and 46 20-mm guns, and carried approximately 80 aircraft.

After a very brief shakedown cruise off the coast of New York, Lake Champlain participated in Operation “Magic Carpet,” which was designed to transport large numbers of American troops back to the United States from post-war Europe. Lake Champlain left Norfolk, Virginia, on 14 October 1945 and arrived in Southhampton, England, on 19 October. She immediately brought back a large number of American troops to the United States. On a subsequent transport trip completed 26 November 1945, Lake Champlain set a speed record for crossing the Atlantic when she arrived at Hampton Roads, Virginia, after having completed a run from Cape Spartel, Morocco, in 4 days, 8 hours, and 51 minutes. This record stood until it was beaten by the SS United States in the summer of 1952.

Lake Champlain was decommissioned on 17 February 1947 and remained in reserve until the start of the Korean War in 1950 increased the demand for aircraft carriers. Lake Champlain was taken out of reserve and overhauled to accommodate the new jet aircraft that were entering the Navy. She was given a strengthened flight deck, a new “island,” and many other modifications. Lake Champlain was modernized at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company at Newport News, Virginia, and she was re-commissioned on 19 September 1952. After completing her modernization, Lake Champlain was also re-designated CVA-39.

After a brief shakedown cruise off Cuba and Haiti from 25 November to 25 December 1952, Lake Champlain set sail for Korea on 26 April 1953. She arrived at Yokosuka, Japan, on 9 June 1953. Lake Champlain was made flagship of Carrier Task Force 77 and steamed out of Yokosuka on 11 June, arriving off the west coast of Korea three days later. The carrier’s air group immediately launched missions that destroyed enemy airfields, attacked enemy troop concentrations, and provided close air support for US and United Nations troops on the ground in Korea. Her planes also escorted American bombers on the way to their targets. Lake Champlain’s aircraft continued their air strikes until an armistice was signed on 27 July 1953. Lake Champlain remained in the area until 11 October, when she was relieved by USS Kearsarge (CVA-33). Lake Champlain headed toward the South China Sea and arrived at Singapore on 24 October. She left the Pacific on 27 October and headed home via the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea and arrived at Mayport, Florida, on 4 December 1953.

For the next four years, Lake Champlain made several cruises with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. In August 1957, the ship was converted into an anti-submarine warfare support aircraft carrier and re-designated CVS-39. While in that role, Lake Champlain patrolled the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean for another eight years. Lake Champlain also participated in the “Quarantine” of Cuba in October and November of 1962. In addition to her normal anti-submarine activities, Lake Champlain conducted midshipmen training cruises, acted as a recovery ship for manned space flights, and assisted in a hurricane relief operation in Haiti in 1963.

By the early 1960s, Lake Champlain had become the only “axial” (or straight) flight deck fixed-wing aircraft carrier in the fleet, while all of the other fixed-wing carriers had adopted the angled flight deck. As time went on, Lake Champlain was incapable of safely handling newer and heavier fixed-wing aircraft. That, plus the introduction into the fleet of the much larger “super” carriers, made the ship obsolete. USS Lake Champlain was decommissioned on 2 May 1966 and was sold for scrapping in July of 1972.

USS Mobile (CL-63)

Figure 1: USS Mobile (CL-63) off the Norfolk Navy Yard at Portsmouth, Virginia, 14 April 1943. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Mobile (CL-63) off the Norfolk Navy Yard at Portsmouth, Virginia, 14 April 1943. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Mobile (CL-63) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 18 July 1943. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: USS Mobile (CL-63) underway in the Pacific, October 1943, probably at the time of the raid on Marcus Island. Photographed by Lieutenant Commander Charles Kerlee, USNR. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: USS Mobile (CL-63) underway in the Pacific, with an SBD aircraft flying overhead. Taken during combat operations in October 1943, probably at the time of the raid on Marcus Island. Photographed by Lieutenant Commander Charles Kerlee, USNR. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: USS Mobile’s (CL-63) plan view amidships, looking aft, taken from a pier-side crane at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 18 July 1943. Circles mark recent alterations to the ship. Note: antennas for SG radar atop the fore and main masts; Mark 34 and Mark 37 gun directors, with antennas for Mark 8 and Mark 4 radars atop them; fully equipped life rafts. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: USS Mobile’s (CL-63) plan view amidships, looking forward, taken from a pier-side crane at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 18 July 1943. Circles mark recent alterations to the ship. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: USS Mobile’s (CL-63) plan view aft, taken from a pier-side crane at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 18 July 1943. Circles mark recent alterations to the ship, in this case newly installed life rafts and floater nets. Note OS2U "Kingfisher" floatplanes atop the ship's catapults. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 9: View from USS Mobile’s (CL-63) fantail, looking across her open aircraft hangar hatch toward the starboard quarter, during the October 1943 raid on Marcus Island. Vought OS2U "Kingfisher" floatplanes are on her catapults. The plane on the starboard catapult has a small bomb under its wing. USS Yorktown (CV-10) is in the center distance. Photographed by Photographer's Mate Alphonso Ianelli. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the Collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 10: Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 1944, with USS Mobile (CL-63) firing on the Japanese destroyer Hatsuzuki, during the evening of 25 October 1944, at the end of the Battle off Cape Engaño. Photographed from USS Wichita (CA-45). Official US Navy Photograph, now in the Collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 11: USS Mobile (CL-63) in San Francisco Bay, California, circa late 1945. Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1973. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.



Named after a city in Alabama, USS Mobile (CL-63) was a 10,000-ton Cleveland class light cruiser that was built by the Newport News Shipbuilding Company at Newport News, Virginia, and was commissioned on 24 March 1943. The ship was approximately 610 feet long and 66 feet wide, had a top speed of 33 knots, and had a crew of 1,266 officers and men. Mobile was armed with 12 6-inch guns, 12 5-inch guns, and 28 40-mm guns. Mobile also carried one Vought OS2U "Kingfisher" floatplane on each of her two catapults.

After being commissioned in March 1943, Mobile completed her shakedown cruise along the east coast of the United States. The ship then was sent to the Pacific and almost immediately participated in bombarding Japanese-held islands. On 31 August 1943, Mobile bombarded tiny Marcus Island, hitting the Japanese garrison there. On 18 September, the cruiser did a preliminary bombardment of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. Then on 5 and 6 October, Mobile pounded Wake Island, which had been taken from the United States at the beginning of the war, and on 21 October, the light cruiser hit Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. In November 1943, Mobile participated in the actual invasions of Bougainville and Tarawa. She was then assigned to Task Force 50, a fast carrier task force, on 1 December and joined the initial attack on the Marshall Islands. After a brief return to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and then San Diego, California, Mobile was sent back to the fighting. In late January 1944, Mobile participated in a major American assault on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. For roughly two weeks, the ship pounded targets on Kwajalein in support of the American amphibious landings on the island.

From mid-February through May 1944, Mobile was attached to carrier task forces that assaulted targets throughout the central Pacific and along the northern coast of New Guinea. She went on to participate in the Marianas campaign in June and July, which included the Battle of the Philippines Sea. In early August 1944, Mobile made a surface sweep through the area of the Bonin and Volcano Islands, assisting in the sinking of one Japanese destroyer and a large cargo vessel.

Mobile screened carriers during the Palau Islands campaign in September 1944, and went on to bombard numerous Japanese targets in the western Pacific region. On 25 October 1944, during the invasion of Leyte in the Philippines, Mobile took part in the Battle off Cape Engaño, the northern component of the epic Battle of Leyte Gulf, using her guns to assist in sinking the Japanese aircraft carrier Chiyoda and destroyer Hatsuzuki.

Mobile continued to screen carriers until late December 1944, as they continued to support the American re-conquest of the Philippines. After being sent back to the United States for a badly needed overhaul in January 1945, Mobile returned to fighting in March 1945 and spent all of April and May providing gunfire support for US ground forces on the island of Okinawa. She remained there until the Japanese were defeated.

After the Japanese surrendered in late August 1945, Mobile assisted in the occupation of Japan. In late 1946, Mobile also made two “Magic Carpet” voyages which transported American troops from Asia back to the United States. After completing those trips, Mobile was sent to the Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bremerton, Washington, for inactivation. She was formally decommissioned on 9 May 1947, but remained part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet for the next 12 years. However, USS Mobile was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1959 and sold for scrapping in December of that same year. The ship received 11 battle stars for her service during World War II.

USS Osprey (AM-56)

Figure 1: USS Osprey (AM-56) underway circa April 1941, probably while running trials. Note that her bow numbers have been freshly painted out. Photograph was received from the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1972. Official US Navy Photograph from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Osprey (AM-56) off the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, 19 April 1941. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Osprey (AM-56) off the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia,19 April 1941. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: USS Osprey (AM-56) off the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, 19 April 1941. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.



Named after a large, hawk-like bird, USS Osprey (AM-56) was an 810-ton Raven class minesweeper that was built by the Norfolk Navy Yard at Norfolk, Virginia, and was commissioned on 16 December 1940. The ship was approximately 220 feet long and 32 feet wide, had a top speed of 18 knots, and had a crew of 105 officers and men. Osprey was armed with two 3-inch guns, two 40-mm gun mounts, and two depth-charge tracks.

After being commissioned, Osprey was assigned to coastal patrol and escort duties off the east cost of the United States and in the Caribbean. She performed these tasks for almost two years until she was ordered to cross the Atlantic and participate in the Allied amphibious landings in Morocco, which took place in November 1942. Osprey assisted in directing and protecting the waves of landing craft that moved towards Port Lyautey, Morocco, during the invasion. After the amphibious landings were completed, Osprey conducted numerous anti-submarine patrols off Casablanca, Morocco, before being sent back to the United States.

For the balance of 1943 and well into 1944, Osprey was assigned to coastal escort duty while based at Norfolk. On 3 April 1944, Osprey left the United States and steamed to England to become part of operation “Overlord,” the invasion of Europe. Along with other ships in her minesweeping unit, Osprey successfully conducted minesweeping operations off Tor Bay, England. The date set for the actual Normandy landings was 6 June 1944. But on the evening of 5 June, while sweeping a path across the English Channel for the other ships in the invasion force to follow, Osprey hit a German mine. The crew on board the ship managed to put out the fires caused by the explosion, but the damage from the mine blast was just too severe for the ship to survive. Osprey sank later that night in the English Channel.

USS Osprey was the first US Navy warship lost during the invasion of Normandy.