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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Whippoorwill (AT[O]-169)



Call sign:
Nan - Fox - Yoke - Love

ex-AT-169
ex-AM-35



Call sign (1939):
Negat - Int - Juliet - Queen

ex-Minesweeper No. 35



Call sign (1919):
George - Sail - Fox - Dog
Lapwing Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 12 December 1917 by the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Co., Mobile, AL
  • Launched 4 July 1918
  • Commissioned USS Whippoorwill (Minesweeper No. 35), 1 April 1919
  • Designated AM-35, 17 July 1920
  • While searching waters south of Tjilatjap 28 February 1942 for survivors of seaplane tender Langley (AV 3), sunk the previous day, rescues crew of British freighter City of Manchester, which had been
    torpedoed, shelled and sunk by the Japanese submarine I-153 at 08º16'S, 108º52'E. Gunboat Tulsa (PG 22), in the vicinity on the same errand, takes on board and treats the wounded merchant sailors
  • Reclassified as a Fleet Tug, AT-169, 1 March 1944
  • Reclassified as a Fleet Tug (Old), AT(O)-169, 15 May 1944
  • Decommissioned 17 April 1946 at San Francisco, CA
  • Struck from the Navy Register 10 June 1946
  • Turned over to the Maritime Commission for disposal 6 November 1946
  • Fate unknown.

    AM-35 Specifications:

  • Displacement 950 t.
    1944 - 1,350 t.
  • Length 187' 10"
  • Beam 35' 6'
  • Draft 9' 10"
    1944 - 13' 1"
  • Speed 14 kts.
    1944 - 13 kts.
  • Complement 78
    1944 - 75
  • Armament: Two 3" gun mounts and machine guns
    1944 - Two 3'/50 dual purpose mounts
  • Propulsion: Two Babcock and Wilcox boilers, one triple expansion reciprocating steam engine, one shaft
    1944 - Two Babcock and Wilcox header boilers, one 1,400shp - 200psi saturated steam vertical triple expansion reciprocating steam engine.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Minesweeper No. 35
    Swan 172k 9 January 1918
    Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., Steel Hull and Plate Dept., Mobile, AL
    Construction of minesweepers Nos. 34, 35 and 36 for the U.S. Navy. Photo shows keels laid in construction yard, work started for the preparation of the yard, 1 October 1917; conditions as indicated on picture
    National Archives photo ID 45548963     		Michael Mohl
    USS Whippoorwill (Minesweeper No. 35)
    Whippoorwill 132k Namesake: Whippoorwill - A small nocturnal bird common to the eastern United States, so-called for its reiterated cry Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 8 March 2020
    Whippoorwill 276k Photo from "Sweeping the North Sea Mine Barrage" by the U.S. Navy North Sea Minesweeping Detachment Joe Radigan
    USS Whippoorwill (AM 35)
    Whippoorwill 109k Jim Kurrasch, Battleship Iowa, Pacific Battleship Center
    Whippoorwill 54k c. June 1941
    Near Cavite, Philippines
    National Archives photo 19-N-27110 from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships     		Original photo: Hyperwar U.S. Navy in WWII
    Replacement photo: Robert Hurst
    Whippoorwill 169k Off Cavite, Philippine Islands, in mid-1941
    National Archives photo 19-N-27106    		 Mike Green
    Whippoorwill 274k Cavite, Philippine Islands, in mid-1941
    National Archives photos 19-N-27106 and 19-N-27104
    Whippoorwill 143k Looking aft from fo'c'sle, showing armor on bridge decks, at Cavite, Philippine Islands, in mid-1941
    National Archives photo 19-N-27105
    Whippoorwill 163k c. Mid-1941
    Cavite, Philippine Islands
    National Archives photo 19-N-27111
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Birney O. Halliwill, USN - Awarded the Navy Cross (1919)1 April 1919
    02LTJG Charles William Van Horn, USN1920
    03LT Edwin Fisher, USN9 December 1925
    04LT Eugene Carrol Burchett, USN1934 - June 1935
    05LT Laurence Francis Blodgett, USN1939 - 1940
    06LCDR Charles A. Ferriter, USN - Awarded the Navy Cross (1941)December 1941
    07LT Vincent Arthur. Halbert, USNR1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Whippoorwill (AM-35)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Websites 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 IndexBack to the Fleet Tug (Old) - (AT[O]) Photo Index
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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and was maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & Michael Mohl.
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