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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Oriole (AT[O] 136)



Call sign:
Nan - Zebra - Oboe - Peter

ex-AT-136
ex-AM-7



Call sign (1939):
Negat - Easy - Victor - Mike

ex-Minesweeper No. 7



Call sign (1919):
George - Tare - Sail - Pup
Lapwing Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 6 March 1918 by the Staten Island Shipbuilding Co., Port Richmond, Staten Island, NY
  • Launched 3 July 1918
  • Commissioned USS Oriole, Minesweeper No. 7, 5 November 1918
  • Designated AM-7, 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned 3 May 1922 at Pearl Harbor, HI
  • Placed in ordinary commission 2 May 1938 at Mare Island, CA
  • Placed in full commission 15 August 1938
  • Reclassified as an Ocean Tug,AT-136, 1 June 1942
  • Reclassified as an Ocean Tug (Old), AT(O)-136, 15 May 1944
  • Decommissioned 6 February 1946
  • Struck from the Navy Register 12 March 1946
  • Delivered to the Maritime Commission 6 January 1947 and sold to M. E. Baker of Kilisut Harbor, WA
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 950 t.
    1944 - 1,350 t.
  • Length 187' 10"
  • Beam 35' 6"
  • Draft 10' 3"
    1944 - 13' 1"
  • Speed 14 kts.
    1944 - 11.2 kts.
  • Complement 62
    1944 - 75
  • Armament: Two 3" guns and two machine guns
    1944 - One 40mm mount
  • Propulsion: Two Babcock and Wilcox boilers, one triple expansion reciprocating steam engine, one shaft
    1944 - Two 200psi saturated steam Babcock and Wilcox header boilers, one 1,400shp Harlan and Hollingsworth vertical triple expansion reciprocating steam engine.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Oriole (Minesweeper No. 7)
    Oriole 43k Namesake: Oriole - Any of various birds in America with a highly specialized vocal apparatus - commonly referred to as "singing birds," although many among them do not sing - the Icteridae family: the males are usually bright black and yellow or orange, the females chiefly greenish or yellowish, as the Baltimore oriole and the orchard oriole Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 2 February 2020
    Oriole 270k Photo from "Sweeping the North Sea Mine Barrage" by the U.S. Navy North Sea Minesweeping Detachment Joe Radigan
    Oriole (AM 7)
    Pigeon 121k Minesweepers laid up at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. View taken circa 1922 or somewhat later, showing several minesweepers laid up in reserve at the end of 1010 Dock. Identifiable ships at left include Oriole, with USS Pigeon (AM-47) inboard of her. USS Pelican (AM-27) is the outboard ship in the center
    U.S. Navy photos NH 45242-A and NH 45243-A    		 Naval Historical Center
    Pigeon 142k
    Oriole 189k Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory: View taken circa 1922 or somewhat later, looking toward 1010 Dock and into the Southeast Loch, from over Ford Island. Several laid-up minesweepers are present. USS Thrush (AM-18) is at left, moored to a buoy with a sister ship. Tied up at the end of 1010 dock are USS Oriole (AM-7), USS Pigeon (AM-47) and USS Pelican (AM-27). A Hog Island-type freighter at right is probably USS Procyon (AG-11), flagship of the Battle Fleet's Base Force. A fleet tug is in the center, hauled out on the Navy Yard Marine Railway
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 45243    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Oriole (AT 136)
    Oriole 105k 22 March 1944
    Alaska (probably Dutch Harbor). The ship had the enclosed upper bridge also fitted to a few other former sisters that once served in Alaska, such as Teal (AVP 5).
    National Archives photo    		 Mike Green
    Commanding Officers
    01LT William Robert Buechner, USN5 November 1918
    02LT Roy Melvin Cottrell, USN - Awarded the Navy Cross (1919)1919 - 30 January 1920
    03Chief Boatswain William DeFries, USN28 January 1921 - 3 May 1922
    04LT Albert Joseph Wheaton, USN15 August 1938 - 15 August 1942
    05LCDR Mellish Mott Lindsay, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 192215 August 1942 - 1 November 1942
    06ENS Harold Harman Gooden, USN1 November 1942 - 7 December 1942
    07LT Charles Frederick Johnson, USNR7 December 1942 - 15 August 1943
    08LTJG Harold Harman Gooden, USN15 August 1943 - 16 May 1945
    09LTJG Robert Charles Fox, USNR16 May 1945 - September 1945
    10LT Theodore P. Pierce, USNRSeptember 1945 - 6 February 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    View the Oriole (AM 7)
    DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Minesweeper (AM) Photo Index Back to the Auxiliary Ship Index Back to the Fleet Tug (AT) Photo Index Back to the Fleet Ocean Tug (Old) -
    (AT[O]) Photo Index
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    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & Michael Mohl
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