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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Widgeon (ASR 1)



Call sign:
Nan - Able - Queen - Fox

ex-AM-22
ex-Minesweeper No. 22



Call sign (1919):
George - Sail - Fox - Have
Lapwing Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 8 October 1917 by the Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Chester, PA
  • Launched 5 May 1918
  • Commissioned USS Widgeon, Minesweeper No.22, 27 July 1918
  • Designated AM-22, 17 February 1920
  • Decommissioned 15 April 1922 for conversion to a Salvage Vessel at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, SC
  • Recommissioned 5 March 1923 as AM-22 with salvage capability
  • Reclassified as a Submarine Rescue Ship, ASR-1, 22 June 1936
  • Decommissioned 5 February 1947
  • Struck from the Navy Register 23 December 1947
  • Transferred to the War Shipping Administration in March 1948 and sold for scrap to the Basalt Rock Co. of Napa, CA.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,400 t.
  • Length 187' 10"
  • Beam 37' 6"
  • Draft 13' 2"
  • Speed 14 kts.
  • Complement 91
  • Armament: Two 3"/50 dual purpose mounts
  • Propulsion: Two Babcock and Wilcox 200psi saturated steam boilers, one 1,400shp Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. vertical triple expansion engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Widgeon 136k Namesake: Wigeons/Widgeons - A fresh water duck Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 15 February 2020
    Widgeon (Minesweeper No. 22)
    Widgeon 178k Original photo: U.S. Navy photo from the August 1959 edition of All Hands magazine
    Replacement photo: At the Sun Shipbuilding Co., Chester, Pennsylvania, on 26 July 1918, the day before she was commissioned
    Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1974
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 79071    		 Original photo: Joe Radigan, MACM,
    USN, Ret.
    Replacement photo: Mike Green
    USS Widgeon (Minesweeper No. 22)
    Turkey 76k Turkey, Minesweeper No. 13 moored alongside a support ship forward of Widgeon
    Photo from "Sweeping the North Sea Mine Barrage" by the U.S. Navy North Sea Minesweeping Detachment     		Joe Radigan
    Widgeon 69k Photos from "Sweeping the North Sea Mine Barrage" by the U.S. Navy North Sea Minesweeping Detachment
    Widgeon 278k
    USS Widgeon (AM 22)
    Widgeon 66k c. 1926
    Hawaii
    The photo was taken from the deck of an R class submarine    		 Ric Hedman TN(SS)
    Widgeon & Princess Matoika 105k 30 May 1930
    Photo caption: Quenching steamship fire. Photo shows the Navy tug Widgeon fighting the fire which partially destroyed the steamship "City of Honolulu" at Honolulu harbor May 28
    Associated press photo XX4275    		 Tommy Trampp
    Widgeon 301k c. 1932
    Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii
    Crew photo
    Photo from the collection of CBM Henry Jenkins, crew member    		 David Jenkins
    USS Widgeon (ASR 1)
    Widgeon 79k 7 December 1941
    Widgeon during the Pearl Harbor attack with a McCann Submarine Rescue Chamber [invented by LCDR Allan McCann] is seen on deck    		 Jeff Scism, Grandson of A. R. McCann
    Widgeon 73k Widgeon alongside the stern of sunken Arizona (BB-39), probably on or about 8 December 1941. Arizona's two after triple 14"/45 gun turrets, visible at left, were later removed and turned over to the Army for use as coastal defense batteries on Oahu. In the right distance is the hulk of the old minelayer
    Baltimore (CM-1)
    National Archives photo 80-G-32761    		 Naval Historical Center
    Widgeon 110k Off Mare Island Navy Yard on 29 October 1943
    Mare Island Navy Yard photo 7389-43 at Naval History and Heritage Command from Shipscribe    		 Mike Green
    Widgeon 110k 29 October 1943
    Broadside view of Widgeon off Mare Island Navy Yard
    Mare Island Navy Yard photo 7390-43    		 Original photo: Donald Tabor via the National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Replacement photo: Darryl Baker
    Widgeon 99k Off Mare Island Navy Yard on 29 October 1943
    Mare Island Navy Yard photo 7391-43 at Naval History and Heritage Command from Shipscribe    		 Mike Green
    Widgeon 95k Widgeon stands by in the background as Apogon (SS-308), undergoes comprehensive remote control tests prior to her role in Operation "Crossroads,"
    June 1946
    National Archives photo 80-G-702799    		 Joe Radigan, MACM, USN, Ret.
    Widgeon 331k Widgeon alongside of Skate (SS 305) on 2 July 1946 after Bikini Island Able test (Operation Crossroads). Skate was in danger of sinking and Widgeon beached Skate on the island of Enyu the same day
    Photo file SS 305 82015-2-68 TH    		 Darryl Baker
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR John Albert Monroe, USN27 July 1918
    02LT Michael John Bresnahan, USN - Awarded the Navy Cross (1919)22 April 1919
    03LT August Wholtman, USN19 April 1921 - 18 November 1922
    04LT Orie Hugh Small, USN5 March 1923
    05LT John Carl Heck, USN18 November 1923
    06LT Herman Bernhard Rouland Jorgensen, USN1925
    07LT Howard Edward Haynes, USN - Awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal (1944)26 November 1927
    08LT George Carroll Dyer, USN - USNA Class of 1919
    Awarded the Navy Distinguished Medal (1952) and two Legions of Merit (1943 - Retired as Vice Admiral    		10 August 1931
    09LT Hugh Jack Martin, USN - USNA Class of 1924
    Awarded two Silver Stars (1944/1945) and the Legion of Merit (1942) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		29 June 1932
    10LT Reginald Clarence Johnson, USN30 June 1936
    11LT John Leslie DeTar, USN - USNA Class of 1927
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1942) - Retired as Captain    		13 June 1938 - 27 April 1939
    12LT James Edward Stevens, USN - USNA Class of 1930
    Awarded the Legion of Merit (1944)    		27 April 1939 - 1941
    13LT John Patrick Dix, USN15 August 1941 - 4 April 1942
    14LT George W. Meyer, USN4 April 1942 - 16 August 1943
    15LT Clifford W. Engler, USN16 August 1943 - 12 June 1945
    16LT Arthur F. Hamby, USN12 June 1945 - 15 March 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    View the Widgeon (AM-22)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
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