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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Swan (AVP 7)



Call sign:
Nan - Item - Jig - Peter

ex-AM-34
ex-Minesweeper No. 34



Call sign (1919):
George - Tare - Vice - Love
Lapwing Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 10 December 1917 at Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., Mobile, AL
  • Launched 4 July 1918
  • Commissioned USS Swan, Minesweeper No.34, 31 January 1919
  • Designated AM-34, 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned 23 May 1922 at Portsmouth, NH
  • Recommissioned 23 June 1923
  • Designated as a minesweeper for duty with aircraft 30 April 1931
  • Decommissioned 21 December 1933 at San Diego, CA
  • Recommissioned 2 April 1934
  • Reclassified as a Small Seaplane Tender, AVP-7, 22 January 1936
  • Decommissioned 13 December 1945 at Boston, MA
  • Struck from the Navy Register 8 January 1946
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission 12 October 1946 at Newport, RI for disposal
  • Acquired in 1956 by Max W. Peterson of Prescott, WA for use as a tugboat and renamed Umatilla
  • Acquired in 1967 by Darrell V. Boylan of Ilwaco, WA for use as a passenger vessel
  • Used in 1970 as a tow boat
  • Acquired in 1975 by Udra L. Welch of Newport, OR
  • Acquired in 1978 by Jay Pansing of Gold Beach, OR for use as a fishing boat
  • Acquired in 1980 by Ruth Ann Johnson of South Beach, OR
  • Acquired in 1988 by Douglas L. Hadsell of Newport, OR
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 840 t.
    1936 - 1,350 t.
  • Length 187' 10"
  • Beam 35' 5'
  • Draft 8' 10"
    1936 - 13' 1"
  • Speed 14 kts.
    1936 - 13.5 kts.
  • Complement 85
  • Armament: Two 3"/50 gun mounts
    1936 - One 3"/50 dual purpose mount
  • Propulsion: Two Babcock and Wilcox boilers, one 1,400shp Alabama Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. triple expansion reciprocating steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Minesweeper No. 34
    Swan 172k 9 January 1918
    Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., Steel Hull and Plate Dept., Mobile, AL
    Construction of minesweepers Nos. 34, 35 and 36 for the U.S. Navy. Photo shows keels laid in construction yard, work started for the preparation of the yard, 1 October 1917; conditions as indicated on picture
    National Archives photo ID 45548963     		Michael Mohl
    USS Swan (Minesweeper No. 34)
    Swan 40k Namesake: Swan - Any of various heavy-bodied, long-necked, mostly pure white aquatic birds, related to but larger than the goose. These birds walk awkwardly but fly strongly once started and swim gracefully Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 8 March 2020
    Swan 25k Bill Koonts, AT2
    VP56, 1953-56
    Swan 297k Photo from "Sweeping the North Sea Mine Barrage" by the U.S. Navy North Sea Minesweeping Detachment Joe Radigan
    Lapwing 143k Review of the Atlantic Fleet Minesweeping Squadron, November 1919. Lapwing (Minesweeper No.1) and other ships of the squadron anchored in the Hudson River, off New York City, while being reviewed by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels on 24 November 1919, following their return to the United States after taking part in clearing the North Sea mine barrage. The other ships visible are: USS Lark (Minesweeper No. 21), with USS SC-208 alongside (at left); and Swan with USS SC-356 alongside (at right)
    U.S. Navy photo NH 44903    		 Naval Historical Center
    Lapwing 118k Review of the Atlantic Fleet Minesweeping Squadron, November 1919. Ships of the squadron anchored in the Hudson River, off New York City, while being reviewed by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels on 24 November 1919, following their return to the United States after taking part in clearing the North Sea mine barrage. Identifiable ships present include (left column, from front to rear): USS Turkey (Minesweeper No. 13); USS Quail (Minesweeper No. 15) with SC-354 alongside; USS Lark (Minesweeper No. 21) with SC-208 alongside; Swan with SC-356 alongside; and USS Flamingo (Minesweeper No. 32) with an unidentified submarine chaser alongside. (right column, from front to rear): USS Thrush (Minesweeper No. 18); Two unidentified minesweepers, one of which is probably Lapwing (Minesweeper No. 1); USS Kingfisher (Minesweeper No. 25); and, in no particular order, tugs Patapsco and Patuxent. USS SC-245 is at the far right, passing between the two anchored columns
    U.S. Navy photo NH 44904
    USS Swan (AM 34)
    Swan 46k c. 1934/1936
    Seen here as a minesweeper for duty with aircraft
    U.S. Navy Photo     		Hazegray & Underway Web Site
    USS Swan (AVP 7)
    Avocet 335k 7 December 1941
    Position of Swan and other ships at Pearl Harbor.
    Map courtesy of National Geographic Book Division    		 Joe Radigan
    Swan 85k 4 May 1943
    Mare Island, CA
    Starboard bow view during inclining experiment
    U.S. Navy photo 2558-43.     		Jon Burdett
    Commanding Officers
    01LTJG Fredman Jerome Walcott, USNRF - Awarded the Navy Cross (1919)31 January 1919 - 7 June 1919
    02LT Stephen Donely, USN7 September 1920 - 26 November 1921
    03LT William Beattie Labaugh, USN26 November 1921 - 23 May 1922 - Decommissioned
    04LT William Beattie Labaugh, USN23 June 1923 - Recommissioned
    05LCDR Jay Louis Kerley, USN10 July 1924
    06LT Harold Augustus Clough, USN12 January 1925
    07LT Charles Rowland Hoffecker, USN25 August 1925
    08LT George Blaine Evans, USN15 May 1930 - 21 December 1933
    09LT Henry Fahnestock MacComsey, USN18 July 1936
    10LCDR John Francis Greenslade, USN - Retired as Rear Admiral28 May 1938 - May 1940
    11LT Roland Fremont Pryce, USNMay 1940
    12LT Alfred Russell Truslow, Jr., USN15 June 1941
    13LCDR Finley Elliott Hall, USN12 August 1941 - 31 August 1942
    14CDR Cecil Kelly Harper, USN - Awarded two Legions of Merit with Combat V and the Bronze Star31 August 1942 - 8 March 1943
    15LTJG Charles E. Napier, USNR8 March 1943 - 1 July 1944
    16LTJG Glenn H. Fauss, USNR1 July 1944 - 1 July 1945
    17LT Henry W. Sawyer, USNR1 July 1945 - 13 December 1945
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Swan (AM-34)
    DANFS History entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command Website
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