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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Partridge (AT[O] 138)



Call sign:
Nan - Queen - Charlie - Fox

ex-AM-16



Call sign (1939):
Negat - Int - Jig - George

ex-Minesweeper No. 16



Call sign (1919):
George - Tare - Sail - Vice

Sunk 11 June 1944
Lapwing Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 14 May 1918 at Chester Shipbuilding Co., Chester, PA
  • Launched 15 October 1918
  • Commissioned USS Partridge, Minesweeper No. 16, 17 June 1919
  • Designated AM-16, 17 February 1920
  • Towed the torpedo damaged freighter Mokihana along with Mankato (YNT 8), 18 February 1942 from Port of Spain, Trinidad to the Virgin Islands and thence to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for
    temporary repairs
  • Takes the freighter Lihue under tow after being torpedoed by the German submarine U-161, 23 February 1942 about 275 miles west of Martinique, Lesser Antilles at 14º30'N, 64º45'W; but the crippled
    merchantman sinks short of St. Lucia, Lesser Antilles
  • Converted to an Ocean Tug, AT-138, 1 June 1942
  • Reclassified as an Ocean Tug (Old), AT(O)-138, 15 May 1944
  • Lost to enemy action 11 June 1944, after bring struck by a torpedo from a German E-Boat at 0200 and sank shortly after
  • Struck from the Naval Register 29 July 1944.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 950 t.
  • Length 187' 10"
  • Beam 35' 6'
  • Draft 9' 10"
  • Speed 14 kts.
  • Complement 78
  • Armament: Two 3" gun mounts and two machine guns
    1943 - Two 3"/50 dual purpose mounts and four 20mm mounts
  • Propulsion: Two Babcock and Wilcox boilers, one triple expansion reciprocating steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Partridge (AM 16)
    Partridge 66k Namesake: Partridge - Any of various gallinaceous birds, such as the ruffed grouse or bob-white quail, found in North America Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 18 February 2020
    Partridge 192k 28 June 1919
    "Peace Day"    		 Ric Hedman TN(SS)
    Partridge 104k c. 1919/1921
    Banderas Bay, Mexico
    U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Museum/Naval Aviation Museum photo 2008.104001.255    		 Mike Green
    Partridge 92k U. S. Navy photo
    Partridge 55k U. S. Navy photo from the Navy Recruitment Bureau, New York Jon Burdett
    Partridge 106k Courtesy of Mr. Donald M. McPherson, 169 Birch Avenue, Corte Madera, California, 1969
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 68329-A    		 Mike Green
    Partridge/Brant 185k "Red Lead Row," San Diego Destroyer Base, California. Photographed at the end of 1922, with at least 65 destroyers tied up there. Ships present are identified as (left to right, in the right diagonal row): Stansbury (DD-180); MacKenzie (DD-175); Renshaw (DD-176); Howard (DD-179); Gillis (DD-260); Tingey (DD-272); McLanahan (DD-264); Swasey (DD-273); Morris (DD-271); Bailey (DD-269); Tattnall (DD-125); Breese (DD-122); Radford (DD-120); Aaron Ward (DD-132) -- probably; Ramsay (DD-124); Montgomery (DD-121); and Lea (DD-118). (left to right, in the middle diagonal row): Wickes (DD-75); Thornton (DD-270); Meade (DD-274); Crane (DD-109); Evans (DD-78); McCawley (DD-276); Doyen
    (DD-280); Elliot (DD-146); Henshaw (DD-278); Moody (DD-277); Meyer (DD-279); Sinclair (DD-275); Turner (DD-259); Philip (DD-76); Hamilton (DD-141); Boggs (DD-136); Claxton (DD-140); Ward (DD-139); Hazelwood (DD-107) or Kilty (DD-137); Kennison (DD-138); Jacob Jones (DD-130); Aulick (DD-258); Babbitt (DD-128); Twiggs (DD-127)    ; and Badger (DD-126). (left to right, in the left diagonal row): Shubrick (DD-268); Edwards (DD-265); Palmer (DD-161); Welles (DD-257); Mugford (DD-105); Upshur (DD-144); Greer (DD-145); Wasmuth (DD-338); Hogan (DD-178); O'Bannon (DD-177); and -- possibly -- Decatur (DD-341). (Nested alongside wharf in left center, left to right): Prairie (AD-5); Buffalo (AD-8); Trever (DD-339); and Perry (DD-340). Minesweepers just astern of this group are Partridge (AM-16) and Brant (AM-24). Nearest ship in the group of destroyers at far left is Dent (DD-116). The others with her are unidentified
    U.S. Navy photo NH 42539    		 Naval Historical Center
    USS Partridge (AT 138)
    Partridge 104k Off Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA, on 13 March 1943
    National Archives photo 19-N-42587 of Portsmouth Navy Yard photo 4829(43)    		 Mike Green
    USS Partridge (AT[O] 138)
    Partridge 37k U.S. Navy photo National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Commanding Officers
    01LTJG Warren Kingsbury Bigger, USN17 June 1919 - 14 June 1920
    02Chief Boatswain John Albert Pierce, USN14 June 1920 - 22 September 1922
    03Chief Boatswain Harold Levi Arnold, USN11 March 1922
    04LT Joseph Alfred Rasmussen, USN22 September 1922 - 11 April 1925
    05LT Arthur Wrightson, USN11 April 1925 - 1 January 1928
    06LT Roy Melvin Cottrell, USN - Awarded the Navy Cross (1919)1 January 1928 - 17 July 1928
    07LT James Albert Martin, USN17 July 1928 - 5 June 1931
    08LT Hubert Kending Stubbs, USN5 June 1931 - 31 May 1934
    09LT Solomon Silas Isquith, USN - USNA Class of 1920
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1941) and the Purple Heart (1941) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		31 May 1934 - 24 April 1936
    10LT Joseph Hawley Garvin, USN24 April 1936 - 30 June 1939
    11LCDR Samuel E. Kenney, USN30 June 1939 - 14 January 1943
    12LT Rodney Fred Snipes, USN14 January 1943 - 6 January 1944
    13LT Adnah Neyhart Caldin, USN6 January 1944 - 10 June 1944
    14LT James Carlton Wilson White, USN10 June 1944 - 11 June 1944
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Partridge (AM-16)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
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