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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Swallow (AM 65)



Call sign:
Nan - Baker - Queen - Jig

Swallow sank 22 April 1945
Auk Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 19 July 1941 by the General Engineering and Dry Dock Co., Alameda, CA
  • Launched 6 May 1942
  • Commissioned 14 January 1943
  • Struck by kamikaze plane at Kerama Retto and sank, 22 April 1945
  • Struck from the Naval Register 2 June 1945
  • Sunken hulk donated to the government of the Ryukyu Islands 10 July 1957.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 890 t.
  • Length 221' 2"
  • Beam 32' 2"
  • Draft 10' 9"
  • Speed 18.1 kts.
  • Complement 105
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, two 40mm gun mounts, eight 20mm guns, two depth charge tracks and five depth charge projectors
  • Propulsion: Two 1,559shp ALCO 539 diesel electric engines, Westinghouse single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Swallow 24k Swallow - Any of numerous small, long-winged birds noted for their graceful flight and regular migrations Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 8 February 2020
    Swallow 124k Passing mail to a destroyer somewhere in the South Pacific
    Photo from the September 1943 issue of "All Hands" magazine    		 Original photo: Joe Radigan
    Replacement photo: Mike Green
    Swallow 273k 20 December 1944
    San Francisco, CA    		 Ed Zajkowski
    Swallow 146k Wearing camouflage 32/1M outside of Hunters Point, San Francisco, CA on 20 December 1944. The camouflage colors are dull black, ocean gray and light gray
    Photos BS 84260 and BS 84261 from the National Archives Bureau of Ships collection    		 Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage
    Swallow 113k
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Luther Martin Kennett, Jr., USN14 January 1943
    02LCDR Whitefield F. Kimball, USNFebruary 1945 - 22 April 1945
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    View the Swallow (AM 65)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
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    This page is created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & Michael Mohl
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