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

Oglala (ARG 1)
ex-Oglala (CM 4)
ex-Shawmut (CM 4)
ex-Shawmut (ID 1255)
ex-Massachusetts (ID 1255)

Aroostook Class Minelayer: Built in 1907 as Massachusetts by the William Cramp and Sons Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA ; Acquired by the Navy, 31 October 1917; Commissioned USS Massachusetts (ID 1255), 7 December 1917; Renamed Shawmut, 7 January 1918; Converted to an Aviation Tender after World War I; Redesignated as a Minelayer, CM-4 in 1920; Renamed Oglala 1 January 1928; Lost to enemy action, 7 December 1941 at Pearl Harbor, HI; Refloated and placed "in ordinary" status; Redesignated as an Internal Combustion Engine Repair Ship, ARG-1, 21 May 1943; Placed in full commission, 28 February 1944; Decommissioned, 11 July 1946 at San Francisco CA.; Struck from the Naval Register, 12 July 1946; Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 12 July 1946; Sold for scrap in November 1965 to Joffe Brothers Shipbreaking Yard of Richmond, CA.

Specifications: Displacement 3,746 t.; Length 386' 4"; Beam 52' 2'; Draft 18' 6"; Speed 17 kts; Complement 407; Armament one 5"/38 dual purpose mount, four 3"/50 dual purpose mounts and two twin 40mm mounts; Propulsion three 180psi saturated steam White-Forster boilers, two 7,000shp Cramp vertical-triple expansion engines, two shafts.

Click On Image
For Full Size Image		 Size Image Description Source
SS Massachusetts
Isabel 87k USS Yacona (SP-617) at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, circa December 1917, painted in pattern camouflage. Yacht Isabel, then being prepared for service as USS Isabel (SP-521), is on the other side of the pier from Yacona. Steamers in the background are Aroostook (ID 1256), formerly S.S. Bunker Hill and Massachusetts, which became USS Shawmut
(ID 1255).
U.S. Navy photo NH 102576		 Naval Historical Center
USS Shawmut (ID 1255)
Shawmut 110k At the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, 4 June 1918, following conversion to a mine layer. Her sister ship, USS Aroostook (ID 1256), is in the background.
Naval Historical Center photo NH 41959		 Robert Hurst
Shawmut 140k Ship's officers and men posed on board at Inverness, Scotland, in September 1918, after having subscribed 100% on the first day of the Fourth Liberty Loan drive.
U.S. Navy photo NH 50492 from the collection of Eugene J. Grow		 Naval Historical Center
Canonicus 125k U.S. Navy Mine Layers steaming in line abreast during the laying of the North Sea mine barrage, September 1918. Analysis of camouflage patterns indicates that these ships are (from front to rear): USS Roanoke (ID 1695); USS Housatonic (ID 1697); USS Shawmut (ID 1255); USS Canandaigua (ID 1694); USS Canonicus (ID 1696); with USS Quinnebaug (ID 1687) and USS Saranac (ID 1702) in the left and right center distance. A four-stack British cruiser is in the left distance.
U.S. Navy photo 61101		 Naval Historical Center
Shawmut 96k Operating at sea in October 1918, during the laying of the North Sea mine barrage. The ship is painted in a disruptive camouflage scheme.
U.S. Navy Photo NH 42398		 Naval Historical Center
Shawmut 102k U.S. Atlantic Fleet at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 6 April 1919. Shawmut, is in the center, and USS Henley (Destroyer # 39),
at right.
Naval Historical Center photo NH 79529		 Robert Hurst
USS Shawmut (CM 4)
Shawmut 105k At Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 1920. A Curtiss N-9 aircraft (Bureau No. A2636) is on the water by her stern and another is resting on her after deck. A "Sea Sled" and motor launch are tied up along her starboard side.
U.S. Navy Photo NH 78226. Courtesy U.S. Naval Institute photo collection		 Naval Historical Center
Shawmut 138k c. 1920
U.S. Navy photo from the March 1969 edition of All Hands magazine		 Joe Radigan
Shawmut 39k c. 1920 Robert Hurst
Shawmut 125k In the Caribbean area, April 1924.
U.S. Navy Photo NH 42399		US Naval Historical Center
Shawmut 191k c. 1924
S-16 (SS-121) & next to her is possibly the S-50 (SS-161) with another unknown S-boat and four unidentified R-boats alongside their tender, Shawmut probably in the Panama Canal area.
U.S. Navy Photo 80-G-1024884, from the National Archives and Records Administration		 Original Photo: Daniel Dunham
Replacement photo: Ron Titus
Shawmut89k In the Hudson River, New York, with YO-5 alongside, 2 May 1927
U.S. Navy Photo NH 43613		 Naval Historical Center
Shawmut128k USS Holland (AS-3) with submarines alongside at San Diego, c. 1927--USS Langley (CV-1) appears at North Island with Shawmut (CM-4) astern of the carrier. The nearest destroyer on the left is USS Edsall (DD 219).
US Navy Photo NR&L (Mod) 19972		 DANFS
Shawmut 94k Circa late 1920s, soon after she was refitted with new boilers and a single smokestack. Note pine trees suspended from her jack staff and foremast yards. USS Overton (DD-239) is among the destroyers visible in the left background.
U.S. Navy Photo NH 60281		 Naval Historical Center
Shawmut 105k Seen as aviation tender. c. late 1920s -
USS Oglala (CM 4)
Oglala 166k c. 1929
U.S. Navy photo from the February 1969 edition of All Hands magazine.		 Joe Radigan
Oglala 70k Alongside the Pearl Harbor Supply Depot, 17 September 1941
U.S. Navy Photo NH 19-N-25593 from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives		 Naval Historical Center
Oglala 68k Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. Aerial view, looking west, with the supply depot in upper center, 13 October 1941. Part of the Submarine Base is at lower left; the Navy Yard is in the upper left; and Ford Island is in the top right. USS Holland is at left, at the Submarine Base. Alongside her are submarines Sturgeon (SS-187), Spearfish (SS-190), Saury (SS-189), Seal (SS-183) and Sargo (SS-188). USS Niagara (PG-52) is alongside the wharf, ahead of Holland. Ships docked at the supply depot, upper center, are Oglala and the S.S. Maui. Among the ships at the piers in the extreme upper left are USS Indianapolis (CA-35), USS San Francisco (CA-38) and USS Antares (AG-10). The two battleships moored by Ford Island, in upper right, are (left) USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and (right) USS Arizona (BB-39).
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
U.S. Navy Photo 80-G-451131		 Naval Historical Center
Avocet 335k 7 December 1941
Position of Oglala and other ships at Pearl Harbor.
Map courtesy of National Geographic Book Division		 Joe Radigan
Oglala 105k At the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, following completion of salvage and initial repairs, circa December 1942. Oglala left Pearl Harbor for the west coast 23 December of that year
U.S. Navy photo NH 61896		 US Naval Historical Center
USS Oglala (ARG 1)
Oglala 78k Oglala (ARG-1) in Southwestern Pacific area, circa 1944. She is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 6d
US Navy photo NH 97422		 Naval Historical Center
Oglala 69k Seen here as rebuilt (ARG-1), c. 28 February 44 to 11 July 45
U.S. Navy photo		 -
Oglala 24k Seen here as (ARG-1). Hyperwar U.S. Navy in World War II
Oglala 112k ex-Oglala (ARG 1) being scrapped at the Joffe Brothers Shipbreaking Yard, Richmond, CA, 3 December 1965.
U.S. Navy photo NH 44582 by LT J. R. Shackleton, USNR		 Naval Historical Center
View the Oglala (CM 4) Salvage Operation Photos
View the Oglala (CM-4)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway web site.
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Naval Minewarfare Association
Association of Minemen
Back To The Main Photo Index Back to the Auxiliary Ship Photo Index Back to the Civilian Identification Numbered Ships (ID) Photo Index Back To The Internal Combustion Engine Repair Ship (ARG) Photo Index Back To the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Minelayer (CM) Photo Index
Problems and site related matters, E-mail Webmaster Webmaster
This page created by Gary P. Priolo and is maintained by Joe Radigan
© 2006 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2006 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.