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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Pigeon (ASR 6)
ex-AM-47
ex-Minesweeper No. 47

Sunk 4 May 1942
Lapwing Class Minesweeper: Laid down, 15 June 1918 by the Baltimore Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., Baltimore, Md.; Launched, 29 January 1919; Commissioned USS Pigeon (Minesweeper No. 47), 15 July 1919; Designated AM-47, 17 July 1920; Decommisisoned, 25 April 1922 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Recommissioned, 13 October 1923; Reclassified a Submarine Rescue Ship, ASR-6, 12 September 1929; Sunk 4 May 1942 by a Japanese dive bomber off Corregidor, Philippines.

Specifications: Displacement 950 t.(lt) 1,009 t.(fl); Length 187' 10"; Beam 35' 6"; Draft 9' 9"; Speed 14 kts; Complement 72; Armament as built, one 11-pounder and two machine guns. WWII armament, two 3"/50 guns, two 20mm guns; Propulsion one 1,400 shp Harlan and Hollingsworth, vertical triple-expansion steam engine, one shaft.

Click On Image
For Full Size Image		 Size Image Description Source
Pigeon 89k 29 January 1919
Sliding down the ways.
Photo from the November 1954 issue of All Hands magazine.		 Joe Radigan
Pigeon 82k In port, 7 July 1919, at about the time she was delivered to the Navy.
Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.
U.S. Navy photo 19-N-2260		 Naval Historical Center
Pigeon 91k In Chinese waters, circa the later 1920s, showing modifications made to fit her as a gunboat for use on the Yangtze River.
Courtesy of Alfred Cellier, 1977.
U.S. Navy photo NH 85732		 Naval Historical Center
Pigeon 92k In a Chinese port, circa the later 1920s, after she had been modified for use as a gunboat on the lower
Yangtze River.
Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland, 1969.
U.S. Navy photo NH 68209		 Naval Historical Center
Pigeon 121k Minesweepers laid up at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. View taken circa 1922 or somewhat later, showing several minesweepers laid up in reserve at the end of 1010 Dock. Identifiable ships at left include USS Oriole (AM-7), with USS Pigeon (AM-47) inboard of her. USS Pelican (AM-27) is the outboard ship in the center.
U.S. Navy photo NH 45242-A		 Naval Historical Center
Pigeon 142k Minesweepers laid up at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. View taken circa 1922 or somewhat later, showing several minesweepers laid up in reserve at the end of 1010 Dock. Identifiable ships at left include USS Oriole (AM-7) outboard, with USS Pigeon (AM-47) inboard of her. USS Pelican (AM-27) is the outboard ship in
the center.
U.S. Navy photo NH 45243-A		 Naval Historical Center
Pigeon 117k c. 1929
Photo from the November 1954 edition of All Hands magazine.		 Joe Radigan
Pigeon 91k S-40 (SS-145) alongside Pigeon (ASR-6), at Shanghai, China in 1932.
Photographed by Gustave J. Freret, Jr., USN
U.S. Navy Photo NH 51815		 Naval Historical Center
Pigeon 138k In Cam Ranh Bay, Indochina, July 1939.
Photograph from the New York Times Paris Bureau collection in the U.S. National Archives.
U.S. Navy photo 306-NT-508E		 Naval Historical Center
Pigeon 45k c. September 1939
Seen here as ASR-6 grounded by a typhoon.
US Navy Photo		 Submitted by Fred Reep to National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
Pigeon 54k 2 September 1939
She went aground 31 August 1939		 James D. McGrew
Pigeon 65k 2 September 1939 James D. McGrew
Pigeon 60k 2 September 1939 James D. McGrew
Pigeon 75k "High and dry", after she ran aground during a typhoon at Tsingtao, China, September 1939.
Collection of Jack L. Wheat..
U.S. Navy photo NH 99674		 Naval Historical Center
Pigeon 74k "High and dry," after she ran aground during a typhoon at Tsingtao, China, September 1939.
Collection of Jack L. Wheat.
U.S. Navy photo NH 99675		 Naval Historical Center
Pigeon 74k Undergoing refloating operations after she ran aground during a typhoon at Tsingtao, China, September 1939. Short range battle targets are hung amidships.
Collection of Chief Torpedoman John Vieira, USN (Retired).
U.S. Navy photo NH 99696		 Naval Historical Center
Pigeon 74k On the beach after she ran aground during a typhoon at Tsingtao, China, September 1939.
Collection of Chief Torpedoman John Vieira, USN (Retired).
U.S. Navy photo NH 99697		 Naval Historical Center
Pigeon 74k Photographed during salvage operations, after she ran aground during a typhoon at Tsingtao, China, September 1939.
Collection of Chief Torpedoman John Vieira, USN (Retired).
U.S. Navy photo NH 99698		 Naval Historical Center
Finch/Pigeon 16k 1 October 1939
Finch (AM 9) towing Pigeon free after she had run aground. The craft on the left is unknown. Photo taken from the deck of the Augusta [CA 31].		 James D. McGrew
View the Pigeon (AM-47)
DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site. The main archive for the DANFS Online Project.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Naval Minewarfare Association
Association of Minemen
National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
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