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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Bobolink (AT[O] 131)



Call sign:
Nan - Peter - Nan - Fox

ex-AT-131
ex-AM-20

Lapwing Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 29 October 1917 by the Baltimore Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., Baltimore, MD
  • Launched 15 June 1918
  • Commissioned USS Bobolink, Minesweeper No. 20, 28 January 1919
  • Classified AM-20, 17 July 1920
  • Reclassified as a Fleet Tug, AT-131, 1 June 1942
  • Reclassified as a Fleet Tug (Old), AT(O)-131, 15 May 1944
  • Decommissioned 22 February 1946 at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal and sold 5 October 1946
  • Fate unknown.

    AM-20 Specifications:

  • Displacement 950 t.
  • Length 187' 10"
  • Beam 35' 6"
  • Draft 8' 10"
  • Speed 14 kts.
  • Complement 78
  • Armament: Two 3" mounts
  • Propulsion: Two Babcock and Wilcox boilers, triple expansion reciprocating steam engine, one shaft.

    AT(O)-131 Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,350 t.
  • Draft 13' 1"
  • Speed 11.8 kts.
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose mount
  • Propulsion: Two 200psi saturated steam Babcock and Wilcox header boilers, one 1,400shp Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. vertical triple expansion reciprocating steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Bobolink 98k Alongside an unidentified minesweeper.
    U. S. Navy photo from the Navy Recruitment Bureau, New York     		Jon Burdett
    Bobolink 131k Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941. View of USS California (BB 44), taken a day or two after the Japanese raid. Bobolink, at left, USS Vireo (AM 52) and YW-10 are off the battleship's stern, assisting with efforts to keep her afloat.
    From the collection of Vice Admiral Homer N. Wallin, USN, Ret.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 95569         		Naval Historical Center
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Frank Bruce, USN28 January 1919
    02LT John Ross McKean, USN21 November 1921
    ??LT James Calder Linville, USN -
    ??LT Floyd Matthews, USN1922 - 1923
    ??LCDR Clyde Charlie Laws, USN1932
    ??LT Walter C. Haight, USN1932 - 1933
    ??LT Carl Frederick V. Espe, USN - Retired as Vice Admiral1933 - 1934
    08LT Norman Barton Hopkins, USN1936
    ??LT Hal Carter Jones, USN1939 - November 1940
    ??LT James Louis Foley, USN - USNA Class of 1929
    Awarded the Silver Star (November 1942) and Legion of Merit (April 1944)    		December 1941
    ??ENS F. G. Reed, USNWWII
    ??LT H. L. Sigleer, USNWWII
    ??LT Elmar L. A. Rau, USNWWII
    ??LTJG E. L. Givins, USNWWII
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Bobolink (AM-20)
    DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Naval Minewarfare Association
    Association of Minemen
    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 Ocean Tug (AT) Photo IndexBack to the Fleet Ocean Tug (Old) (AT[O]) Photo Index
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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Joe Radigan
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