Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Albatross (IX 171)
ex-AM-71



Call sign:
Nan - Easy - George - Oboe


Albatross served the Navies of the United States and Norway.
Albatross Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 25 October 1930 as the steel hull trawler M/V Illinois by the Bath Iron Works, Bath, ME for the Red Diamond Trawling Corp.
  • Launched 19 March 1931
  • Delivered 30 March 1931
  • Acquired by the Navy 9 August 1940
  • Renamed Albatross 14 August 1940
  • Conversion to a Minesweeper began 6 September 1940 by the General Ship and Engine Works of East Boston, MA
  • Commissioned USS Albatross (AM 71), 8 November 1940 at the Boston Navy Yard
  • Conversion completed 8 November 1941
  • Reclassified as an Unclassified Miscellaneous Auxiliary, IX-171, 1 June 1944
  • Decommissioned 11 September 1944
  • Struck from the Naval Register 23 September 1944
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission 15 November 1944
    Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists plan for transfer to the War Shipping Administration as November 1945
  • Renamed Illinois
  • Transferred to Norway
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 510 t.
  • Length 147' 5"
  • Beam 25'
  • Draft 12'
  • Speed 13 kts.
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount
  • Propulsion: One 550shp Fairbanks Morse diesel engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    No image of Albatross (AM 71) is available at this time
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Lysle Elbert Ellis, USN8 November 1940 - 1941
    02LTJG Bruce W. Evans, USN1941
    03LT William A. Jewett, USNDecember 1943
    03LT Paul O. Elliott, USN1944 - 11 September 1944
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    View the Albatross (AM 71)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Naval Minewarfare Association
    Association of Minemen
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Mine Ship Photo Index Back to the Minesweeper (AM) Photo Index Back to the Auxiliary Ship Index Back to the Unclassified Miscellaneous Auxiliary Ship (IX) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page is created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History