USS Widgeon (ASR-1) Class

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USS Falcon (ASR-2) circa 24 May 1939 during rescue operations on USS Squalus (SS-192)
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.

Class:        WIDGEON (ASR-1)
Design        Navy AM-1
Displacement (tons):        1,013 light, 1,400 lim.
Dimensions (feet):        187.8' oa, 180.0' wl x 36.7' x 9.8' mn, 13.2' lim.
Original Armament:        None before 1941
Later armaments:        2-3"/23 (1941-42: ASR 2-3)
2-3"/50 (1942-43: ASR 3-5); 2-3"/50 4-20mm (1943-44: ASR 1, 4-5);
2-20mm (1943: ASR-2);
1-3"/50 4-20mm (1944: ASR 3-4)
Complement        --
Speed (kts.):        14
Propulsion (HP):        1,400
Machinery:        1 screw, triple expansion

Construction:

ASR	Name	Reclas.	Builder	Keel	Launch	Commiss.
1	WIDGEON	12 Sep 29	Sun SB & DD	8 Oct 17	5 May 18	27 Jul 18
2	FALCON	12 Sep 29	Gas Engine & Power	14 Nov 17	7 Sep 18	12 Nov 18
3	CHEWINK	12 Sep 29	Todd SYs, N.Y. (Tebo)	8 Jul 18	21 Dec 18	9 Apr 19
4	MALLARD	12 Sep 29	Staten Island SB	25 May 18	17 Dec 18	25 Jun 19
5	ORTOLAN	12 Sep 29	Staten Island SB	9 Jul 18	30 Jan 19	17 Sep 19
6	PIGEON	12 Sep 29	Baltimore DD & SB	15 Jun 18	29 Jan 19	15 Jul 19

Disposition:

ASR	Name	Decomm.	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale
1	WIDGEON	5 Feb 47	23 Dec 47	2 Mar 48	MC/S	19 Feb 48
2	FALCON	18 Jun 46	19 Jul 46	12 Mar 47	Sold	--
3	CHEWINK	4 Feb 47	10 Jun 47	31 Jul 47	Tgt	--
4	MALLARD	10 Dec 46	14 Mar 47	22 May 47	Tgt	--
5	ORTOLAN	18 Mar 47	10 Jun 47	19 Sep 47	MC/S	20 Aug 47
6	PIGEON	--	8 May 42	3 May 42	Lost	--

Class Notes:
FY 1918 (as minesweepers). The future ASR 1-2 were authorized as minesweepers by the Naval Emergency Fund act of 4 Mar 17 while ASR 3-6 were authorized by the additional act of the same name dated 6 Oct 17. Their construction contracts were awarded respectively on 13 Jun 17, 31 Jul 17, 28 Mar 18, 27 Mar 18 (ASR 4-5), and 4 May 18. The U.S. Navy built a total of 49 steam-propelled minesweepers of the LAPWING (AM-1, "Bird") class during World War I (5 more were cancelled). After the war the requirement for minesweepers practically disappeared (only four "Birds" were still active in the mine warfare force during the 1930s), but the ships were found useful for other purposes, particularly ocean towing, tending seaplanes (see the AVP-1 class) and submarines, and serving as submarine rescue ships. In 1921 FALCON (AM-28) assisted in salvage efforts on the submarine S-51, which sank during builder's trials, and by 1924 she had been fully fitted out as a rescue ship and was formally designated as the submarine rescue vessel for Atlantic Fleet submarines. Between April 1922 and March 1923 a sister, WIDGEON (AM-22) was fitted at the Charleston, S.C. Navy Yard, as a submarine rescue vessel for Pacific Fleet submarines. Other sisters were assigned during the 1920s to the submarine force as tenders, and in 1928-1930 four of them, MALLARD (AM-44), PIGEON (AM-47), CHEWINK (AM-39), and ORTOLAN (AM-45) were upgraded to submarine rescue vessels able to carry and use a submarine rescue chamber (YRC). ORTOLAN was converted to support the squadron at Pearl Harbor that received the Navy's latest design submarines (beginning with V1-V6). On 12 Sep 29 these six vessels were formally reclassified as Submarine Rescue Vessels (ASR). Three other "Birds" supported submarines as tenders but were not upgraded to rescue ships or reclassified ARS: CURLEW (AM-8, briefly in 1923), QUAIL (AM-15, in 1923-28), and SEAGULL (AM-30, which served as a tender alongside the rescue ship MALLARD at Pearl Harbor from 1923 until ca. 1941).

Ship Notes:

ASR	Name	Notes
1	WIDGEON	Ex AM-22 12 Sep 29. Ordered by the Navy Department on 6 Sep 21 to be equipped as a salvage vessel for duty on the West Coast. Decomm. 14 Apr 22, converted by the Charleston, S.C. Navy Yard, recomm. 5 Mar 23, and assigned to Commander Submarine Divisions Pacific. Her submarine support capabilities were enhanced at Pearl Harbor in 1926. To buyer 2 Mar 48.
2	FALCON	Ex AM-28 12 Sep 29. Began submarine related duties with salvage work on S-5 (SS-110) in 1921 and permanently assigned as a submarine rescue vessel for submarine divisions in the Atlantic by the Navy Department on 19 Apr 24.
3	CHEWINK	Ex AM-39 12 Sep 29. Assigned as tender of Submarine Division 4 at Newport, R.I., on 14 Aug 23 and fitted as a submarine rescue vessel at the Boston Navy Yard Sep-Nov 1929. Out of commission 21 Sep 33 to 12 Nov 40. Sunk as target by a Mark 28 warshot torpedo from USS CORSAIR (SS-435).
4	MALLARD	Ex AM-44 12 Sep 29. Participated in salvage of S-4 (SS-109) between December 1927 and March 1928, then converted at the Boston Navy Yard to a submarine rescue vessel between June and December 1928. Sunk as target by a Mark 28 warshot torpedo from USS PIPER (SS-409).
5	ORTOLAN	Ex AM-45 12 Sep 29. Decomm. at Mare Island Navy Yard 3 May 22 and recomm. for submarine-related duty 11 Jul 22. Fitted as a submarine rescue vessel at Pearl Harbor ca. 1930
6	PIGEON	Ex AM-47 12 Sep 29. Decomm. at Pearl Harbor 25 Apr 22, converted to a temporary gunboat for Yangtse River patrol duty, and recomm. 13 Oct 23. Assigned to submarine duty in the Asiatic Fleet in September 1928 and fitted as a submarine salvage vessel at Cavite between April and July 1929. Sunk by Japanese aircraft in Manila Bay during the siege of Corregidor.