USS Penguin (AM-33)

USS "Penguin" (AM-33) was a "Lapwing"-class minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.

Penguin was named by the U.S. Navy after the penguin, a bird of the Southern hemisphere. Penguin was laid down 17 November 1917 at the New Jersey Dry Dock and Transportation Co., Elizabethport, New Jersey; launched 12 June 1918; and commissioned 21 November 1918, Lt. (jg) Edgar T. Hammond in command.

North Sea minesweeping operations

"Penguin", commissioned too late for service during World War I, performed minesweeping and salvage work in the New York area until sailing for Kirkwall, Scotland, 22 May 1919. On 5 June she reported to the North Sea Minesweeping Detachment. Then, fitted out with “electrical protective devices”, she was soon busy clearing the North Sea Mine Barrage. On 9 July, a mine exploded in her kite, causing minor damage. In August, while laying buoys for the sixth sweeping operation, she suffered a similar explosion, with more severe results. Temporary repairs restored her to working condition until a lengthy repair and overhaul period at Chatham prepared her to sail homeward.

Pacific Ocean operations

"Penguin" returned to New York in November, then sailed to join the Pacific Fleet’s Mine Squadron 4, with which she operated, in the eastern Pacific, until decommissioned and placed in reserve at Pearl Harbor, 1 June 1922.

Recommissioned 13 October 1923, she was fitted out for temporary service as a gunboat and assigned to the Asiatic Fleet. Sailing west she took up duties as a Yangtze Patrol vessel, operating out of Shanghai. She remained on China station until the end of the decade, then sailed to Cavite, whence she steamed to Guam, where she was homeported for the last years of her naval career. During the thirties, she performed various services for the administrators of Guam, including patrol and rescue missions in areas traversed by the newly established transpacific air routes. However, with increased political tension in the Far East, and increased possibilities for war, her patrol duties were stepped up and took on a more defensive posture.

Start of World War II operations

Early on the morning of 8 December 1941 (7 December east of the I.D.L.) she returned to Agana Harbor from such a patrol to receive word of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Soon thereafter Japanese planes swarmed over the island. Bombs fell on fuel storage tanks and shore installations. "Penguin" slipped her mooring and moved outside the harbor to gain maneuvering space. Her antiaircraft fire drove some of the bombers higher thus limiting their accuracy. The enemy’s attention, however, was soon focused on the ships. "Penguin" became the object of bombing and strafing runs. No direct hits were scored, but one group of bombs straddled the ship. The resulting explosions killed 1, wounded over 60, and caused extensive damage.

"Penguin" shoots down Japanese plane, then scuttles

During the Attack on Guam, "Penguin" downed one plane. The ship's guns kept up the pace until the ship had been maneuvered to a position a mile and a half off the beach. There, in 200 fathoms, she was scuttled to prevent her capture by the enemy. Her crew made the shore in life rafts and those not seriously wounded continued the defense of Guam.

References

See also

* List of United States Navy ships
* Lapwing class minesweeper
* World War II
* Minesweeper (ship)
* Minesweeping

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/#Anchor-Editoria-14954 Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-p/am33.htm USN Ships--USS Penguin (Minesweeper # 33, later AM-33)]
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/AM/AM-33_Penguin.html Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945 AM-33 USS Penguin]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/02033.htm NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive = Penguin (AM 33)]
* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/class.html?ID=225 uboat.net - Allied Warships - Lapwing class Minesweepers]