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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Bobolink (AT[O] 131)



Call sign:
Nan - Peter - Nan - Fox

ex-AT-131
ex-AM-20



Call sign (1939):
Negat - Int - Jig - Jig

ex-Minesweeper No. 20



Call sign (1919):
George - Tare - Rush - Sail
Lapwing Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 29 October 1917 by the Baltimore Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., Baltimore, MD
  • Launched 15 June 1918
  • Commissioned USS Bobolink, Minesweeper No. 20, 28 January 1919
  • Classified AM-20, 17 July 1920
  • Reclassified as a Fleet Tug, AT-131, 1 June 1942
  • Reclassified as a Fleet Tug (Old), AT(O)-131, 15 May 1944
  • Decommissioned 22 February 1946 at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal and sold 5 October 1946
  • Fate unknown.

    AM-20 Specifications:

  • Displacement 950 t.
    1942 - 1,350 t.
  • Length 187' 10"
  • Beam 35' 6"
  • Draft 8' 10"
    1942 - 13' 1"
  • Speed 14 kts.
    1942 - 11.8 kts.
  • Complement 78
  • Armament: Two 3" mounts
    1942 - Two 3"/50 dual purpose mounts and two 20mm mounts
  • Propulsion: Two Babcock and Wilcox boilers, triple expansion reciprocating steam engine, one shaft
    1942 - Two 200psi saturated steam Babcock and Wilcox header boilers, one 1,400shp Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. vertical triple expansion reciprocating steam engine.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Bobolink (Minesweeper No. 20)
    Bobolink 216k
    Namesake:

    Bobolink is an American bird named after its call

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Bobolink 206k Photo from "Sweeping the North Sea Mine Barrage" by the U.S. Navy North Sea Minesweeping Detachment Joe Radigan
    Bobolink 69k
    Bobolink 281k
    Bobolink 216k Drawing of Bobolink with Eider (Minesweeper No. 17) Jim Kurrasch, Battleship Iowa, Pacific Battleship Center
    USS Bobolink (AM 20)
    Bobolink 123k Bobolink is on the right. The ship holding "swim call" is believed to be Florida (BB 30) Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 19 January 2021
    Bobolink 98k Alongside an unidentified minesweeper
    U. S. Navy photo from the Navy Recruitment Bureau, New York     		Jon Burdett
    Bobolink 383k c. July 1924
    Boston Navy Yard
    Alongside the SS Boston that collided with the Tanker Swift Arrow 22 July 1924 off Point Judith, RI
    Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones collection    		 Boston Public Library
    Bobolink 131k Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941. View of USS California (BB 44), taken a day or two after the Japanese raid. Bobolink, at left, USS Vireo (AM 52) and YW-10 are off the battleship's stern, assisting with efforts to keep her afloat
    From the collection of Vice Admiral Homer N. Wallin, USN, Ret.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 95569         		Naval Historical Center
    USS Bobolink (AT 131)
    Bobolink 89k At Pearl Harbor on 6 August 1942
    National Archives photo 19-N-34740 of U.S. Navy photo 285242     		Mike Green
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Frank Bruce, USN - Awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal (1919 - Posthumously)28 January 1919 - 14 May 1919
    02LTJG Orie Hugh Small, USN14 May 1919 - 16 May 1919
    03LTJG Howard James Gordon, USN16 May 1919
    04LT John Ross McKean, USN - Awarded the Navy Cross (1919)30 August 1920 - 21 November 1921
    05LT Frank Kinne, USN21 November 1921 - 20 January 1923
    06LT Floyd Matthews, USN20 January 1923 - 23 July 1923
    07Boatswain Birney Osro Halliwell, USN23 July 1923
    08Boatswain Albert Charles Fraenzel, USN15 January 1926
    09Boatswain Joseph Casper Konieczny, USN27 August 1926
    10Boatswain Albert Charles Fraenzel, USN21 July 1927
    11LT Clyde Charlie Laws, USN30 May 1929
    12LT Walter Clayton Haight, USN17 June 1932
    13LT Carl Frederick Espe, USN - USNA Class of 1922
    Awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Cross (1952), the Silver Star (1943), four Legions of Merit (two with Combat V (1944/1945/1962) and the Bronze Star with Combat V (1944) - Retired as Vice Admiral    		21 May 1933
    14LT Norman Barton Hopkins, USN - USNA Class of 19208 June 1934
    15LT William Hartenstein, USN - Awarded the Navy Cross (1918)4 January 1937
    16LT Hal Carter Jones, USN - USNA Class of 192123 June 1939
    17LT James Louis Foley, USN - USNA Class of 1929
    Awarded the Silver Star (1942) and Legion of Merit (1944) - Retired as Captain    		10 November 1941 - 8 June 1943
    18LT Harry Lee Sigleer, USN8 June 1943 - 1 October 1943
    19ENS Fulton Glen Reed, USN1 October 1943 - 5 December 1943
    20LT Elmar Louis Alfred Rau, USN5 December 1943 - 30 August 1944
    21LTJG Fulton Glen Reed, USN30 August 1944 - 1 April 1945
    22LT Edward Lewis Givins, USN1 April 1945 - 1 September 1945
    23LTJG Clair Augustine, USN1 September 1945 - 1 December 1945
    24LT James Calder Linville, USN1 December 1945 - 22 February 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Bobolink (AM-20)
    DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway website
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