USS Penguin (AM-33)

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.

USS Lawrence (DD-250)

Figure 1: USS Lawrence (DD-250) at anchor, circa 1921. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Lawrence (DD-250) photographed during the 1920s or 1930s. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Lawrence (DD-250) underway during the 1920s or 1930s. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: USS Lawrence (DD-250) in the Panama Canal, during the 1920s or 1930s. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: USS Lawrence (DD-250) in San Diego harbor, California, 1933. USS Eagle 11 (PE-11) is in the right background. Donation of Franklin Moran, 1967. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: USS Lawrence (DD-250) underway in San Diego harbor, California, 1935. Photographed from USS Dobbin (AD-3). Donation of Franklin Moran, 1967. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: USS Lawrence (DD-250) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 23 June 1942. Note that her after smokestack and after torpedo tubes have been removed, but she still retains 4"/50 guns. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: USS Lawrence (DD-250) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 23 June 1942. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 9: USS Lawrence (DD-250) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 23 June 1942. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 10: USS Lawrence (DD-250) alongside a wharf at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 20 June 1942. This view looks forward from over the ship's after deckhouse, and shows her midships' 4"/50 guns and smokestacks. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.

Named after Captain James Lawrence (1781-1813), who was killed while commanding the frigate Chesapeake during the War of 1812, the USS Lawrence was a 1,190-ton Clemson class destroyer built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey, and was commissioned on 18 April 1921. She was approximately 314 feet long and 31 feet wide and had a top speed of 35 knots and a crew of 101 officers and men. Lawrence was armed with four 4-inch guns, one 3-inch gun, two depth-charge tracks and 12 21-inch torpedo tubes.

Following her shakedown cruise, Lawrence was assigned to the Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet, and was sent to the Mediterranean in June 1922. She arrived off Constantinople on 4 July and for the next year patrolled the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Lawrence joined British, French, and Italian naval forces in assisting refugees that were displaced by both the Russian Civil War and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. In September 1922, Lawrence was part of a small US naval task force off the coast of Smyrna, Turkey, and helped to evacuate hundreds of Greek refugees, saving them from almost certain death at the hands of the Turks who had recently completed a re-conquest of Asia Minor. After assisting Red Cross workers and US Food Administration officials in the region for several more months, Lawrence returned to New York on 20 October 1923.

From late 1923 until early 1931, Lawrence was assigned to the Scouting Fleet in the Atlantic and the Caribbean and made several trips through the Panama Canal to take part in naval exercises in the Pacific. Lawrence also was used as a training ship and made several cruises with the Naval Reserve. She was sent off the coast of Nicaragua in February and March 1927 during that country’s Civil War, but returned to Philadelphia later that year. Lawrence was decommissioned on 6 January 1931.

Lawrence was re-commissioned on 13 June 1932 and was sent to San Diego where she spent the next six years participating in fleet exercises and tactical training drills. She was decommissioned once again on 13 September 1938.

When war started in Europe on 1 September 1939, Lawrence was re-commissioned for the second time and joined the active fleet on 26 September 1939. For the remainder of the year, as well as for most of 1940, Lawrence patrolled the Caribbean and the Atlantic. She returned to the Pacific on 27 December 1940 and was based at San Diego. She began escorting convoys along the West Coast shortly after America entered the war on 7 December 1941 and throughout most of 1942 Lawrence escorted merchant ships from San Francisco to the Aleutian Islands. From September 1942 until the end of the war, Lawrence was based at San Francisco and was given numerous patrol and escort duties. On 31 May 1944, Lawrence rescued almost 200 men from the steamship Henry Bergh, which had gone aground in the nearby Farralon Islands.

In late August 1945, Lawrence was sent to the East Coast and her final destination was Philadelphia. She was decommissioned for the last time on 24 October 1945. Lawrence was then sold for scrapping on 1 October 1946 to the Boston Metal Company of Baltimore, Maryland.

Lawrence was one of those unusual warships that never fired a shot at an enemy but did manage to save hundreds of lives off the coasts of Turkey and the United States. She was a destroyer that was always prepared for war, but ended up getting a reputation as a rescue ship and escort. Not a bad legacy for a tough old warship.

USS Hoel (DD-533)

Figure 1: USS Hoel (DD-533) off San Francisco, California, 3 August 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Hoel (DD-533) off San Francisco, California, 3 August 1943, soon after commissioning. She was completed with three 20mm guns mounted just forward of her pilothouse structure. Note the blimp overhead. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Hoel (DD-533) underway in San Francisco Bay, California, 7 August 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: USS Hoel (DD-533) underway in San Francisco Bay, California, 7 August 1943. The city of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge are in the background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: USS Hoel (DD-533) underway in San Francisco Bay, California, 7 August 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: USS Hoel (DD-533) in San Francisco Bay, California, 25 October 1943, after post-completion alterations. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: USS Hoel (DD-533) in San Francisco Bay, California, 25 October 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: USS Hoel (DD-533) in San Francisco Bay, California, 25 October 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 9: USS Hoel (DD-533) photographed from USS Kwajalein (CVE-98), during operations in the south Pacific, 10 August 1944. Hoel's camouflage is Measure 32, Design 1d. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 10: Battle off Samar, 25 October 1944. American survivors of the battle are rescued by a U.S. Navy ship on 26 October 1944. Some 1200 survivors of USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), USS Hoel (DD-533), USS Johnston (DD-557) and USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) were rescued during the days following the action. Photographed by U.S. Army Private William Roof. Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.

Named after William R. Hoel, a Civil War hero in the Union Navy, the USS Hoel (DD-533) was a 2,050-ton Fletcher class destroyer built at the Bethlehem Steel Company, San Francisco, California, and was commissioned on 29 July 1943. She was approximately 376 feet long and 39 feet wide and had a top speed of 36 knots. Hoel was armed with five 5-inch guns, four 1.1-inch guns, four 20-mm. cannons, ten 21-inch torpedo tubes, six depth charge projectors and two depth charge tracks.

After her shakedown cruise along America’s West Coast, Hoel left for the Pacific combat zone in October 1943. One month later, Hoel joined the invasion of the Gilbert Islands and was given the task of screening American escort carriers. She continued in this role during the invasion of the Marshall Islands in January and February 1944 and also provided gunfire support for the landings on Eniwetok. From March 1944, Hoel escorted convoys and provided anti-submarine support to escort carriers attached to the Third and Seventh Fleets in the south Pacific. She also screened escort carriers during the invasion of Peleliu in September 1944.

In October 1944, Hoel was attached to Rear Admiral Thomas L. Sprague’s escort carrier group for the invasion of Leyte in the Philippines. Sprague’s force (Task Group 77.4) was made up of three units, each containing a group of escort carriers that were screened by destroyers and destroyer escorts. These three units (known as Taffy 1, Taffy 2, and Taffy 3) began operating off Samar, the island just to the north of Leyte, on 18 October 1944. Their primary function was to provide air cover for the amphibious landings taking place on Leyte. Hoel was assigned to Taffy 3 (Escort Carrier Task Unit 77.4.3), under the command of Rear Admiral Clifton A. F. Sprague (no relation to Rear Admiral Thomas L. Sprague). Taffy 3 was made up of four escort carriers that were screened by the destroyers Hoel, Heermann, and Johnston. Two more escort carriers and four destroyer escorts, Dennis, John C. Butler, Raymond, and the Samuel B. Roberts then reinforced Taffy 3.

On the morning of 25 October 1944, Taffy 3 was operating northeast of Samar while Taffy 2 was in the center position protecting the entrance to Leyte Gulf. Taffy 1 was monitoring the southern approaches to Leyte Gulf and was approximately 130 miles to the southeast of Hoel and Taffy 3. Admiral Thomas L. Sprague, commander of the entire task force, believed that the heavy units of Admiral William Halsey’s Third Fleet were to the north of him, providing cover against larger elements of the Japanese Navy. Unfortunately, Halsey and the Third Fleet were chasing a Japanese task force well to the north of their position, leaving Admiral Thomas L. Sprague’s ships to fend for themselves. Then, the unthinkable happened. At 0645, lookouts on board the ships of Taffy 3 spotted a large Japanese task force bearing down on them. This was Admiral Takeo Kurita’s powerful “Center Force,” which had slipped unnoticed through the San Bernardino Strait, located to the north of Samar. Kurita was heading for the American beachhead at Leyte and he was bringing with him four battleships, six heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and 11 destroyers. The only thing standing between Kurita’s task force and the defenseless cargo and amphibious assault ships off Leyte was Taffy 3. A small collection of American escort carriers, destroyers, and destroyer escorts would have to take on a vastly superior Japanese task force.

What followed was one of the most amazing battles in American naval history. Every available aircraft on all of the escort carriers was ordered to immediately attack the Japanese warships. After all of the planes were launched, the defenseless escort carriers headed south towards Leyte Gulf, hoping that help would arrive before they were all annihilated by the superior Japanese warships. As the American planes attacked the Japanese warships, Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague, commander of Taffy 3, ordered his destroyers to make a torpedo attack against the oncoming Japanese warships.

After receiving this order, Hoel headed straight for the nearest Japanese battleship, Kongo, which was only 18,000 yards away. At 14,000 yards Hoel’s guns opened fire, but her bridge was hit by a shell from one of Kongo’s 14-inch guns. Although staggered by the hit, Hoel kept on going and fired half of her torpedoes at a range of 9,000 yards. Though none of the torpedoes hit Kongo, the attack forced the battleship to turn away from the escort carriers and head in the opposite direction. A few minutes later, Hoel sustained hits from some of the other Japanese warships. These hits knocked out three of her 5-inch guns, stopped her port engine and destroyed her Mark-37 fire control director, her radar, and her bridge steering control. But the Hoel and her crew did not give up. Hoel slowly turned with what power she had left and attacked a Japanese column of heavy cruisers. When she was within 6,000 yards of the leading cruiser, Haguro, Hoel fired her remaining torpedoes. This time, large columns of water rose from the side of her target, an indication that at least some of the torpedoes hit. Although Japanese records deny that these torpedoes hit the cruiser, there is no evidence to indicate any other explanation for the geyser effect observed.

Hoel was now a crippled wreck surrounded by enemy warships. Kongo was only 8,000 yards off her port beam and the Japanese heavy cruisers were now 7,000 yards off her port quarter. For the next hour, Hoel fired what guns she had left at the enemy, thereby drawing attention towards her and away from the escort carriers she was protecting. But the heavy shells hitting the destroyer soon took their toll and at 0830, after sustaining more than 40 hits, an 8-inch shell silenced her remaining engine. With her engineroom under water, her No. 1 magazine ablaze, and the ship listing heavily to port and settling by the stern, Hoel’s captain, Commander Leon S. Kinterberger, was forced to give the order to “Prepare to abandon ship.” The Japanese continued to fire at the doomed destroyer as the surviving officers and men went into the water. The shelling stopped at 0855, when the Hoel rolled over and sank. Only 86 of the Hoel’s crew survived, while 253 officers and men went down with the ship.

There were many other acts of outstanding bravery that day. Ships like the Johnston, Samuel B. Roberts, and Gambier Bay were lost while trying to fight off the oncoming Japanese warships. But their sacrifice was not in vain because Admiral Kurita was so intimidated by the attacks made by Taffy 3’s ships and aircraft that he decided to retreat. The American destroyers and destroyer escorts forced the Japanese to retire, thereby saving the unarmed American merchant ships and amphibious assault ships off Leyte from certain destruction. It was an amazing sacrifice and one of the greatest acts of heroism in the annals of American naval history.

USS Hoel received the Presidential Unit Citation, the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation Badge and five battle stars for her service in World War II.

USS Spry (PG-64)/HMS Hibiscus

Figure 1: USS Spry (PG-64) 14 June 1944, in the Cooper River off the U.S. Navy Yard Charleston, South Carolina. This is a starboard broadside view. U.S. Navy photo 1616-44. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Spry (PG-64) 14 June 1944, in the Cooper River off the U.S. Navy Yard Charleston, South Carolina. This is a starboard quarter view. U.S. Navy photo 1612-44. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Spry (PG-64) 14 June 1944, in the Cooper River off the U.S. Navy Yard Charleston, South Carolina. This is a stern, down view. U.S. Navy photo 1618-44. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: USS Spry (PG-64) 14 June 1944, in the Cooper River off the U.S. Navy Yard Charleston, South Carolina. This is a stern view. U.S. Navy photo 1613-44. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: USS Spry (PG-64) 14 June 1944, in the Cooper River off the U.S. Navy Yard Charleston, South Carolina. This is a port quarter, down view. U.S. Navy photo 1617-44. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: USS Spry (PG-64) 14 June 1944, in the Cooper River off the U.S. Navy Yard Charleston, South Carolina. This is a port bow view. U.S. Navy photo 1615-44. Click on photograph for larger image.

Originally ordered for the French Navy but taken over by the British Royal Navy after the fall of France, HMS Hibiscus was a 925-ton Flower class corvette that was commissioned on 21 May 1940. The ship was built by Harland and Wolff, Ltd., at Belfast, Northern Ireland, and was approximately 205 feet long and 33 feet wide, with a top speed of 16.5 knots and a crew of 87 officers and men. Hibiscus was armed with one 4-inch gun, one 3-inch gun, two 20-mm cannons, two depth charge racks and four depth charge projectors.

For almost two years, Hibiscus was assigned to convoy duties in the perilous North Atlantic. Although she never sank a German U-boat, she did protect many merchant ships from attack and saved numerous lives. On 30 August 1940, Hibiscus rescued 11 men from the Norwegian merchant ship Norne that was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine. On 18 October 1940, this small escort rescued 34 men from the sunken British merchant ship Sandsend and on 28 September 1941 Hibiscus saved another 34 men from the British merchant ship Margareta, which was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat.

By early 1942, the United States was in the war but was desperately short of ocean-going escorts. On 2 May 1942 at Leith, Scotland, the Royal Navy transferred the HMS Hibiscus to the US Navy as part of a reverse Lend-Lease agreement. Approximately 24 Flower class corvettes were given to the US Navy until newer American escorts could be built. On 2 May Hibiscus was commissioned into the US Navy as the USS Spry (PG-64), with Lieutenant Maxim W. Firth in command. Spry was immediately attached to a convoy that steamed from Londonderry, Northern Ireland, to Argentia, Newfoundland, and then the ship went on to Boston for an overhaul. Once work was completed on Spry, the corvette was sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for escort duty and arrived there on 1 August 1942. For several months, Spry escorted convoys between Guantanamo Bay and Trinidad, until it was assigned to the convoy route between Trinidad and Recife, Brazil, in January 1943. After another overhaul in Charleston, South Carolina, Spry went to Boston in June 1944. For the next year, until the war ended, Spry was given convoy escort and weather patrol duty between Newfoundland, Greenland, and Iceland.

Spry was decommissioned in England on 20 August 1945 and was returned to the Royal Navy on 26 August. She was officially stricken from the US Navy list on 17 September 1945 and was sold in 1947 by the British government. Spry was converted into a merchant ship and renamed Madonna and served in this capacity until 1955, when she was sold for scrap in Hong Kong.

Spry was one of those humble warships that performed an incredibly important job during a critical time in the Battle of the Atlantic. The United States was desperately short of escorts and England (who herself was struggling to survive) managed to give us 24 badly needed corvettes until our shipyards could build newer and better ocean escorts. Spry and her sisters helped to “hold the line” until more of our ships could be built, even though these British corvettes are rarely mentioned by today’s historians. However, it is still important to remember that there was a time when the United States was so ill prepared for war that we had to use warships supplied to us by another country until we could build more of our own.

USS Partridge (AM-16/ATO138)

Figure 1: Undated photograph of USS Partridge (AM-16), prior to her conversion to an ocean-going tug. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Partridge (ATO-138) shown here after her conversion into an ocean-going tug. Date unknown. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: Picture taken of USS Partridge (AM-16) on 28 June 1919. Courtesy Ric Hedman. Click on photograph for larger image.

Named after a bird found in North America, USS Partridge (AM-16) was a 950-ton Lapwing class minesweeper that was built by the Chester Shipbuilding Company at Chester, Pennsylvania. Partridge was commissioned on 17 June 1919 and was approximately 187 feet long and 35 feet wide, with a top speed of 14 knots and a crew of 72 officers and men. She was modestly armed with two 3-inch guns and two machine guns.

Completed after the end of World War I, Partridge was assigned to the Pacific Fleet as a minesweeper until she was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet in June 1941. Partridge was then converted into an ocean-going tug and was reclassified AT-138 on 1 June 1942. For almost two years, she participated in salvage, towing, and rescue operations along the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean, saving numerous lives and ships in distress. On 15 May 1944, Partridge was reclassified ATO-138 (ATO standing for Ocean Tug, Old) and was ordered to England to assist in the preparation for the invasion of Normandy. Partridge arrived in England and stayed there until 10 June, when she was ordered to steam toward the Normandy beachhead to assist in a major towing operation. While nearing Normandy in the early morning hours of 11 June, Partridge was suddenly attacked by a German E-Boat. The E-Boat fired a torpedo and scored a direct hit on the tug. Partridge sank shortly after she was hit, taking with her 32 officers and men, almost half her crew.

Many ships were lost during the invasion of Normandy. Few (if any) are remembered today. What makes the loss of Partridge tragic is the fact that she was not a large ship, or a famous ship, or even a heavily armed ship. She was just a humble tug doing her job with no glamour and even less fanfare. Yet this small ship was sunk and the 32 men who died that night had families, friends, wives and sweethearts who would never see them again. World War II proved that being on a ship, any ship, in hostile waters could be an extremely dangerous proposition.

USS Seminole (AT-65)

Figure 1: USS Seminole (AT-65), photograph taken by her builder, the Bethlehem Steel Company shipyard, Staten Island, New York, at the time of her completion, circa early 1940. This photograph has been heavily retouched from the mainmast area to the stern. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Seminole (AT-65), photograph taken in 1940, probably early in the year at the time of her completion. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Seminole (AT-65), photograph taken in 1940, probably early in the year at the time of her completion. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.

Named after an American Indian tribe from Florida, the USS Seminole (AT-65) was a 1,500-ton Navajo class ocean-going tug that was built by the Bethlehem Steel Company at Staten Island, New York. Commissioned on 8 March 1940, Seminole was approximately 205 feet long and 38 feet wide, with a top speed of 16 knots and a crew of 80 officers and men. Seminole was armed with one 3-inch gun, two twin 40-mm gun mounts and two single 20-mm guns.

Following her shakedown cruise along America’s East Coast, Seminole was transferred to the Pacific fleet. For more than a year, this tug performed towing and salvage operations along America’s West Coast, around Hawaii, and off the coasts of Wake Island and Panama. Seminole was sailing to San Diego when Pearl Harbor was attacked on 7 December 1941. Upon hearing the news of the Japanese attack, Seminole immediately reversed course and returned to Pearl Harbor, arriving there on 12 December. During the busy days that followed, when tugs of all sizes were desperately needed for salvage and towing operations, Seminole assisted many ships, including the Army Transport President Taylor, US Navy patrol craft YP-108 and USS Vireo (AT-144).

In October 1942, Seminole was assigned to the south Pacific and sent to Guadalcanal to assist in escort, salvage, and towing operations there. Seminole arrived off Tulagi on 18 October and began ferrying ammunition, gasoline, and troops to shore from larger merchant ships. On the morning of 25 October 1942, while unloading some Marines, aviation gasoline, and howitzers approximately three and one-half miles east of Lunga Point, three Japanese destroyers spotted Seminole and the ship next to it, the small American patrol craft YP-284. The Japanese destroyers immediately opened fire on the two small American warships, hitting them repeatedly. Approximately three salvos hit the Seminole and the tug burst into flames. The order to “Abandon Ship” was given and soon both Seminole and YP-284 sank beneath the waves. Ironically, since the tug possessed no armor protection and was extremely thin-skinned, the majority of the shells fired from the Japanese destroyers went right through Seminole without exploding. As a result of this, only one man was killed on board the tug and the rest of the crew was rescued after the ship went down.

Seminole was an ordinary tug doing routine work in a very dangerous part of the Pacific during World War II. Her fate showed that ships can be sunk and people can get killed while doing such ordinary work and that any ship, regardless of its size, is fair game in wartime. Seminole received one battle star for its service in World War II.