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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Kite (AM 75)

Converted Minesweeper:
  • Built by Bath Iron Works, Bath, ME (YN 120)
  • Laid down, 18 June 1928
  • Launched, 24 November 1928
  • Delivered to F.J. O'Hara & Sons, Boton, MA, as beam trawler Holy Cross (ON 228057), 27 November 1928
  • Acquired by Navy, 11 September 1940
  • Converted to minesweeper by Bethelem Steel Co., East Boston, MA, 12 September 1940 - April 1941
  • Commissioned USS Kite (AM-75), 03 March 1941
  • Decommissioned at Quincy, MA, 14 August 1944
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 22 August 1944
  • Transferred to WSA (War Shipping Administration) for disposal, 02 March 1945
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Hull Steel
    Displacement 482 tons displacement
    Length 124' 3"
    Beam 23' 0"
    Draft 10' 6"
    Speed 9 knots
    Complement unknown
    Armament
    one 3"/23 gun
    two .30 calliber machine guns
    Propulsion
    one Fairbanks-Morse diesel
    single propeller, 360hp
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Namesake
    Kite
    110207501    		 83k Kite - A small or medium bird of the hawk family. Tommy Trampp
    USS Kite (AM-75)
    Kite
    110207502    		 268k Underway off Boston, MA, 25 March 1941.
    National Archives photo 19-N-23650    		 Naval History and Heritage Command
    Kite
    110207503    		 149k USS Kite and USS Linnet (AM-76) receiving post-commissioning alterations at Wet Slip No. 3, Norfolk Navy Yard, 02 August 1941.
    Photos by George Strock, Life Magazine, used for educational and non-commercial purpose    		 John Chiquoine / Brian Baird
    Kite
    110207504    		 313k
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR George Louis Burns, USNR03 March 1941 - 1943
    02LT Jacob Schulman, USN1943 - 14 August 1944
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    View the Kite (AM 75)
    DANFS History entry located on the Naval History & Heritage Command website
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    This page was created by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) and maintained by David L. Wright
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    Last Updated 14 July 2023