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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Swan (AVP 7)



Call sign:
Nan - Item - Jig - Peter

ex-AM-34
ex-Minesweeper No. 34



Call sign (1919):
George - Tare - Vice - Love
Lapwing Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 10 December 1917 at Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., Mobile, AL
  • Launched 4 July 1918
  • Commissioned USS Swan, Minesweeper No.34, 31 January 1919
  • Designated AM-34, 17 February 1920
  • Decommissioned 23 May 1922 at Portsmouth, NH
  • Recommissioned 23 June 1923
  • Designated as a minesweeper for duty with aircraft 30 April 1931
  • Decommissioned 21 December 1933 at San Diego, CA
  • Recommissioned 2 April 1934
  • Reclassified as a Small Seaplane Tender, AVP-7, 22 January 1936
  • Decommissioned 13 December 1945 at Boston, MA
  • Struck from the Navy Register 8 January 1946
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission 12 October 1946 at Newport, RI for disposal
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 840 t.
    1936 - 1,350 t.
  • Length 187' 10"
  • Beam 35' 5'
  • Draft 8' 10"
    1936 - 13' 1"
  • Speed 14 kts.
    1936 - 13.5 kts.
  • Complement 85
  • Armament: Two 3"/50 gun mounts
    1936 - One 3"/50 dual purpose mount
  • Propulsion: Two Babcock and Wilcox boilers, one 1,400shp Alabama Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. triple expansion reciprocating steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Swan (Minesweeper No. 34)
    Swan 25k . Bill Koonts, AT2
    VP56, 1953-56
    Lapwing 143k Review of the Atlantic Fleet Minesweeping Squadron, November 1919. Lapwing (Minesweeper No.1) and other 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. The other ships visible are: USS Lark (Minesweeper No. 21), with USS SC-208 alongside (at left); and Swan with USS SC-356 alongside (at right).
    U.S. Navy photo NH 44903    		 Naval Historical Center
    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 with SC-356 alongside; and USS Flamingo (Minesweeper No. 32) 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
    USS Swan (AM 34)
    Swan 46k c. 1934/1936
    Seen here as a minesweeper for duty with aircraft
    U.S. Navy Photo     		Hazegray & Underway Web Site
    USS Swan (AVP 7)
    Avocet 335k 7 December 1941
    Position of Swan and other ships at Pearl Harbor.
    Map courtesy of National Geographic Book Division    		 Joe Radigan
    Swan 85k 4 May 1943
    Mare Island, CA
    Starboard bow view during inclining experiment
    U.S. Navy photo 2558-43.     		Jon Burdett
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Fredman J. Walcott, USNRF - Awarded the Navy Cross31 January 1919
    02LT Stephen Donely, USN7 September 1920 - 26 November 1921
    03LT William Beattie Labaugh, USN1925
    04LT Charles Rowland Hoffecker, USN25 August 1925
    05LT Henry Fahnestock MacComsey, USN1936
    07LT Finley Elliott Hall, USN1941 - 31 August 1942
    08LT Cecil Kelly Harper, USN - Awarded two Legions of Merit w/Combat V and the Bronze Star31 August 1942 - 8 March 1943
    09LTJG Charles E. Napier, USNR8 March 943 - 1 July 1944
    10LTJG Glenn H. Fauss, USNR1 July 1944 - 1 July 1945
    11LT Henry W. Sawyer, USNR1 July 1945 - 31 October 1945
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    View the Swan (AM-34)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Naval Minewarfare Association
    Association of Minemen
    Hazegray & Underway World Aircraft Carrier Pages
    Report on Action of December 7, 1941
    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 Small SeaplaneTender (AVP) Photo Index
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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Joe Radigan
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