USS Gannet (AM-41)

USS Gannet (AM-41)
Gannet (AVP8), formerly Minesweeper AM41. Small seaplane tender. Port bow, 05-04-1937 - NARA - 520820.tif
Gannet in 1937
Career (U.S.)
Name: USS Gannet (AM-41)
Namesake: the gannet bird
Builder: Todd Shipyard Corp.
New York
Laid down: 1 October 1918
Launched: 19 March 1919
Sponsored by: Edna Mae Fry
Commissioned: 10 July 1919
Reclassified: Small Seaplane Tender AVP-8, 22 January 1936
Struck: Date Unknown
Fate: Torpedoed northwest of Bermuda 7 June 1942
General characteristics
Class and type: Lapwing-class minesweeper
Displacement: 950 tons
Length: 187 ft 10 in (57.25 m)
Beam: 35 ft 6 in (10.82 m)
Draft: 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)
Propulsion: One 1,400 shp Harlan & Hollingsworth Corp. Vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.
Speed: 14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement: 72
Armament: 2 machine guns

USS Gannet (AM-41) was an Lapwing-class minesweeper built for the United States Navy near the end of World War I.

Gannet was laid down 1 October 1918 by the Todd Shipyard Corp., New York; launched 19 March 1919; sponsored by Miss Edna Mae Fry; and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard 10 July 1919, Lt. J. E. Ann-strong in command.

Contents

Post-World War I operations

Gannet departed New York 11 August 1919 and reached San Diego, California, 2 November after training out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A unit of the Train, Pacific Fleet, she based at San Diego and was subsequently assigned to Aircraft Squadron, Battle Fleet, and later to Base Force, U.S. Fleet. Serving primarily as a tender to aircraft squadrons, she also performed towing, transport, and passenger service along the western seaboard, and made periodic cruises as tender to aircraft units participating in Army-Navy exercises, fleet problems, and maneuvers off Hawaii, the Panama Canal, and in the Caribbean Sea.

She spent the summer months of 1926, 1929, and 1932-35 as tender to aerial survey expeditions to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. On 30 April 1931 Gannet was designated a minesweeper for duty with aircraft. She was reclassified AVP-8, 22 January 1936.

U.S. East Coast operations

Gannet departed San Diego, California, 18 August 1937 and based at Coco Solo, Panama, as tender for aircraft squadrons of the Scouting Force until 1 June 1939. Arriving Norfolk, Virginia, 9 June, she then became tender to Patrol Wing 5, Aircraft Scouting Force. In a series of cruises from Norfolk, she tended Navy patrol planes based at Key West, Florida, Bermuda, Santa Lucia, and Trinidad; then steamed north 22 September 1941 to establish an advance seaplane base at Kungnait Bay, Greenland (6 October – 23 October). She served on plane guard station in the Davis Strait for an Iceland-Argentia ferry flight before returning to Norfolk 11 November.

World War II Atlantic Theatre operations

Gannet was tending patrol planes at Hamilton, Bermuda, when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor. She returned to Norfolk, Virginia, 12 December and sailed 21 January 1942 for Bermuda to serve as tender to Patrol Squadron 74, which provided air patrol and coverage in approaches to that base. Gannet also was communication center for all aircraft operations in that area.

Torpedoed by German submarine

Departing Bermuda 2 June, Gannet joined British ship HMS Sumar the next day in an unsuccessful search for the torpedoed merchantman warships became separated during the night. Before dawn 7 June, northwest of Bermuda, Gannet was hit by submarine torpedoes from commanding officer, Lt. Francis E. Nuessle, fought free of the suction, joined other survivors, and ordered the life rafts tied together in the heavy seas with wounded hoisted on board and the uninjured hanging on the sides. Twenty-two men were rescued by two planes of Patrol Squadron 74 which made the daring landing in heavy seas. USS Hamilton (DMS-18), led to the scene by one of the same planes, rescued 40 others.

Gannet was removed from the Navy List, but the date is not known.

References

External links

Coordinates: 35°50′N 65°38′W / 35.833°N 65.633°W / 35.833; -65.633


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • USS Gannet — is a name used more than once by the U.S. Navy to name its vessels:*USS|Gannet|AM 41, was laid down 1 October 1918 by the Todd Shipyard Corporation, New York*USS|Gannet|MSC 290, was laid down 1 May 1959 by the Tacoma Boatbuilding Company, Tacoma …   Wikipedia

  • USS Gannet (MSC-290) — The USS Gannet (MSC 290) was laid down 1 May 1959 by the Tacoma Boatbuilding Co., Inc., Tacoma, Washington; launched 2 May 1960; sponsored by Mrs. Frank P. Luongo, Jr.; and commissioned in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard 14 July 1961, Lt. E. L.… …   Wikipedia

  • USS Eider (AM-17) — at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, ca. August September 1920 Career …   Wikipedia

  • USS Viking (ARS-1) — For other ships of the same name, see USS Flamingo. For other ships of the same name, see USS Guide and USC GS Guide. For other ships of the same name, see USS Viking. USC GS Pioneer and USC GS Guide at Dutch Harbor, Territory of Alaska, in 1940 …   Wikipedia

  • USS Lark (AM-21) — For other ships of the same name, see USS Lark. USS Lark on left Career …   Wikipedia

  • USS Tern (AM-31) — For other ships of the same name, see USS Tern. Career …   Wikipedia

  • USS Sandpiper (AM-51) — For other ships of the same name, see USS Sandpiper. Career …   Wikipedia

  • USS Avocet (AVP-4) — For other ships of the same name, see USS Avocet. USS Avocet in foreground during the Attack on Pearl Harbor. USS Nevada is in the background, with a large American flag on her bow. Career (US) …   Wikipedia

  • USS Oriole (AM-7) — For other ships of the same name, see USS Oriole. Career …   Wikipedia

  • USS Widgeon (AM-22) — For other ships of the same name, see USS Widgeon. USS Widgeon (AM 22) ca. 1926, photographed from the deck of an R class submarine at Hawaii. Career …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”