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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

USS Viking (ARS-1)
ex-USC&GS Guide
ex-USS Flamingo (AM-32)
ex-Minesweeper No. 32



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

Flamingo served both the U. S. Navy and the Coast & Geodetic Survey.

Lapwing Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 18 October 1917 by the New Jersey Drydock and Transportation Co., Elizabethport, NJ
  • Launched 24 August 1918
  • Commissioned USS Flamingo, Minesweeper No. 32, 12 February 1919
  • Designated AM-32, 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned 5 May 1922
  • Transferred to the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 23 January 1923
  • Renamed USC&GS Guide, 1 March 1923
  • Returned to U.S. Navy custody 27 June 1941, converted to a Salvage and Rescue Vessel, ARS-1, at the San Diego Marine Construction Co., San Diego, CA and renamed Viking
  • Placed in-service, 3 January 1942, civilian manned and operated under contract to the Merritt, Chapman and Scott Salvage Co., San Diego
  • Placed out-of-service and returned by the contractor to Naval custody 17 March 1953
  • Struck from the Navy Register 19 April 1953
  • Sold for scrap 22 July 1953 to Nathan Cohen and Son Inc. of Los Angeles, CA.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 950 t.
  • Length 187' 10"
  • Beam 35' 5"
  • Draft 8' 10"
  • Speed 14 kts.
  • Complement 72
  • Armament: Two 3" mounts
    1941 - One 3"/23 dual purpose mount
  • Propulsion: Two Babcock and Wilcox 200psi boilers, Harlan and Hollingsworth Corp.1,200shp triple expansion engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Flamingo (Minesweeper No. 32)
    Lapwing 118k Review of the Atlantic Fleet Minesweeping Squadron, November 1919. Ships of the squadron anchored in the Hudson River, off New York City, while being reviewed by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels on 24 November 1919, following their return to the United States after taking part in clearing the North Sea mine barrage. Identifiable ships present include (left column, from front to rear): USS Turkey (Minesweeper No. 13); USS Quail (Minesweeper No. 15) with SC-354 alongside; USS Lark (Minesweeper No. 21) with SC-208 alongside; Swan (Minesweeper No. 34) with
    SC-356 alongside; and Flamingo with an unidentified submarine chaser alongside. (right column, from front to rear): USS Thrush (Minesweeper No. 18); Two unidentified minesweepers, one of which is probably Lapwing (Minesweeper No. 1); USS Kingfisher (Minesweeper No. 25); and, in no particular order, tugs Patapsco and Patuxent. USS SC-245 is at the far right, passing between the two anchored columns.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 44904    		 Naval Historical Center
    USC&GS Guide
    Flamingo 72k . Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy
    Flamingo 166k 4 July 1939
    Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island, Alaska
    Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships Guide (in foreground) and Discoverer (ex-Auk [AM 38]). Taking on fuel from USS
    Chester (CA 27)
    NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; C&GS Season's Report Eickelberg 1939-32 photo.    		 NOAA Website
    Osprey/Flamingo 108k c. 1940
    Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island, Alaska
    Guide (right) along with USC&GS Pioneer
    USC&GS photo    		 Ramon Jackson
    Flamingo/Osprey 118k c. 1940
    Alaska
    Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships Pioneer and Guide
    NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; Captain Harry D. Reed, C&GS    		 NOAA Website
    View the Flamingo (AM-32)
    DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway web site
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    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 Photo Index Back To the
    Salvage Ship (ARS) Photo Index
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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Joe Radigan
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