Lapwing-class minesweeper

The Lapwing-class minesweeper, often called the Bird class, was an early "AM-type" oceangoing minesweeper of the United States Navy. Seven ships of the class were commissioned during World War I, and served well into the 1950s. A number were refitted to serve as ocean-going tugs, salvage vessels, seaplane tenders, or submarine rescue ships.

USS Lapwing (AM-1) and other ships of the squadron anchored in the Hudson River, off New York City
Class overview
Operators	United States Navy
Succeeded by	Raven-class minesweeper
Built	1917–1919
In commission	1918–1953
Planned	51
Completed	49
Cancelled	2
Lost	16
Retired	35
Preserved	0
Notes	Although technically not "preserved", USS Auk has been abandoned in Venezuela since 1962 and is still there in its original configuration albeit partially sunk.
General characteristics
Type	Minesweeper
Displacement	840 long tons (853 t)
Length	187 ft 10 in (57.25 m)
Beam	35 ft 5 in (10.80 m)
Draft	15 ft (4.6 m)
Propulsion	Reciprocating engine
Speed	14 knots (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement	75
Armament	2 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber guns and/or 2 × .30cal machine guns

The propulsion system consisted of 2 Babcock & Wilcox 200psi boilers and a 1,400shp Harlan and Hollingsworth triple expansion reciprocating steam engine.

Ships

The table makes no distinction between classification as "Minesweeper No. X" and "AM-X". This change affected all boats equally ca. 1920.

All boats reclassified as Fleet Tugs (AT) where later again reclassified as Fleet Tug, Old (ATO) (ca. 1944). The table treats them the same. Brant and Grebe were never reclassified as ATO.

Ship name	Hull number	Builder	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Fate
Lapwing	AM-1	Todd Brooklyn	12 Jun 1918	11 Apr 1922	Sold, 19 August 1946; fate unknown
	AVP-1		1 Sep 1932	29 Nov 1945
Owl	AM-2		11 Jul 1918		Sold for scrap, 27 June 1947
	AT-137		1 Jun 1942	26 Jul 1946
Robin	AM-3		29 Aug 1918		Sold for scrap, 1945
	AT-140		1 Jun 1942	9 Nov 1945
Swallow	AM-4		8 Oct 1918	n/a	Ran aground, 19 February 1938; later sank
Tanager	AM-5	Staten Island Shipbuilding Company	28 Jun 1918	n/a	Sank, 4 May 1942
Cardinal	AM-6		23 Aug 1918	n/a	Ran aground, 6 June 1923; later sank
Oriole	AM-7		5 Nov 1918 15 Aug 1938	3 May 1922	Sold 1947
	AT-136		1 Jun 1942	6 Feb 1946
Curlew	AM-8		7 Jan 1919	n/a	Ran aground, 15 December 1925; later sank
Finch	AM-9	Standard Shipbuilding Company	10 Sep 1918	n/a	Sank, 10 Apr 1942;salvaged later sunk 12 January 1945
Heron	AM-10		30 Oct 1918 18 Sep 1924	6 Apr 1922	Sold for scrap, 25 July 1947
	AVP-2		27 Jan 1936	12 Feb 1946
Condor	AM-11		never	never	Construction cancelled, 4 December 1918
Plover	AM-12		never	never	Construction cancelled, 4 December 1918
Turkey	AM-13	Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation	13 Dec 1918	12 Apr 1922	Sold for scrap, 30 December 1946
	AT-143		1 Jun 1942	6 Nov 1945
Woodcock	AM-14		19 Feb 1919 21 Feb 1924	5 May 1922	Sold for scrap, 19 December 1947
	AT-145		1 Jun 1942	30 Sep 1946
Quail	AM-15		29 Apr 1919	n/a	Scuttled to prevent capture, 5 May 1942
Partridge	AM-16		17 Jun 1919	n/a	Sank, 11 June 1944
Eider	AM-17	Pusey and Jones	23 Jan 1919	18 Apr 1922	Fate unknown
	YNG-20		7 Oct 1940	28 Nov 1945
Thrush	AM-18		25 Apr 1919	3 Apr 1922	Sold to a commercial interest, 21 August 1946; Sank, 10 March 1951
	AVP-3		31 Oct 1935	13 Dec 1945
Avocet	AM-19	Baltimore Dry Dock and Shipbuilding	17 Sep 1918 8 Sep 1925	3 Apr 1922	Sold for scrap, 12 December 1946
	AVP-4		22 Jan 1936	10 Dec 1945
Bobolink	AM-20		28 Jan 1919		Fate unknown
	AT-131		1 Jun 1942	22 Feb 1946
Lark	AM-21		12 Apr 1919		Fate unknown
	AT-168		1 Mar 1944	7 February 1946
Widgeon	AM-22	Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company	27 Jul 1918		Sold for scrap, 5 March 1948
	ASR-1		22 Jun 1936	5 Feb 1947
Teal	AM-23		20 Aug 1918		Fate unknown
	AVP-5		22 Jan 1936	23 Nov 1945
Brant	AM-24		5 Sep 1918		Fate unknown
	AT-132		1 Jun 1942
	ARS-32		1 Sep 1942	19 Dec 1945
Kingfisher	AM-25	Puget Sound Navy Yard	27 May 1918		Fate unknown
	AT-135		1 Jun 1942	6 Feb 1946
Rail	AM-26		5 Jun 1918		Fate unknown
	AT-139		1 Jun 1942	29 Apr 1946
Pelican	AM-27	Gas Engine and Power Company	10 Oct 1918		Sold for scrap, November 1946
	AVP-6		22 Jan 1936	30 Nov 1945
Falcon	AM-28		12 Nov 1918		Fate unknown
	ASR-2		12 Sep 1929	18 Jun 1946
Osprey	AM-29		7 Jan 1919	12 Dec 1920	Sold for scrap, 1952
	ARS-2		17 Sep 1941	13 Feb 1947
Seagull	AM-30		7 Mar 1919		Fate unknown
	AT-141		1 Jun 1942	5 Sep 1946
Tern	AM-31		17 May 1919		Fate unknown
	AT-142		1 Jun 1942	23 Nov 1945
Flamingo	AM-32[1]	New Jersey Dry Dock and Transportation Company	12 Feb 1919	17 Mar 1953	Sold for scrap, 22 July 1953
Penguin	AM-33		21 Nov 1918	n/a	Scuttled to prevent capture, 8 December 1941
Swan	AM-34	Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company	31 Jan 1919		Fate unknown
	AVP-7		22 Jan 1936	13 Dec 1945
Whipporwill	AM-35		1 Apr 1919		Fate unknown
	AT-169		1 Mar 1944	17 Apr 1946
Bittern	AM-36		28 May 1919	n/a	Scuttled following incapacitating damage, 10 December 1941
Sanderling	AM-37	Todd Brooklyn	4 Dec 1918	2 May 1922	Accidentally sank while under tow, 26 June 1937
Auk	AM-38		31 Jan 1919	28 Jan 1947	Transferred to Venezuela, 9 June 1947; decommissioned in 1962 and abandoned as of 2019
Chewink	AM-39		9 Apr 1919	4 Feb 1947	Sunk as a target, 31 July 1947
	ASR-3		9 April 1919	4 February 1947
Cormorant	AM-40 AT-133		15 May 1919	29 March 1946	Fate unknown
	AM-40 AT-133		15 May 1919	29 March 1946
Gannet	AM-41		10 July 1919	n/a	Sunk, 7 June 1942
	AVP-8		10 July 1919	n/a
Grebe	AM-43	Staten Island Shipbuilding Company	1 May 1919	n/a	Ran aground, 6 December 1942; destroyed by hurricane, 1–2 January 1943
	AT-134		1 May 1919	n/a
Mallard	AM-44		25 Jun 1919	10 Dec 1946	Sunk as a target, 22 May 1947
	ASR-4		25 Jun 1919	10 Dec 1946
Ortolan	AM-45		17 Sep 1919	18 Mar 1947	Fate unknown
	ASR-5		17 Sep 1919	18 Mar 1947
Peacock	AM-46		27 Dec 1919	n/a	Sunk, 24 August 1940
Pigeon	AM-47	Baltimore Dry Dock and Shipbuilding	15 July 1919	n/a	Sunk, 4 May 1942
	ASR-6		15 July 1919	n/a
Redwing	AM-48		17 October 1919	n/a	Sunk, 29 June 1943
	ARS-4		17 October 1919	n/a
Sandpiper	AM-51	Philadelphia Navy Yard	9 October 1919	10 December 1945	Fate unknown
	AVP-9		9 October 1919	10 December 1945
Vireo	AM-52		16 October 1919	18 April 1946	Fate unknown
	AT-144		16 October 1919	18 April 1946
Warbler	AM-53		22 December 1919	29 March 1946	Fate unknown
	ARS-11		22 December 1919	29 March 1946
Willet	AM-54		29 January 1920	1 December 1947	Sold for scrap 2 November 1948
	ARS-12		29 January 1920	1 December 1947

References

1. service history not reflected in the table

External links

• Media related to Lapwing class minesweepers at Wikimedia Commons
• USN Ships
• Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940–1945