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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Bittern (AM 36)



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

ex-Minesweeper No. 36



Call sign (1919):
George - Tare - Rush - Quack

Scuttled 10 December 1941
Lapwing Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 12 December 1917 by the Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., Mobile, AL
  • Launched 15 February 1919
  • Commissioned USS Bittern, Minesweeper No. 36, 28 May 1919
  • Designated AM-36, 17 July 1920
  • Badly damaged in an air raid on Cavite Navy Yard 10 December 1941 and scuttled in Manila Bay, Philippines
  • Struck from the Naval Register 8 May 1942.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,009 t.
  • Length 187' 10"
  • Beam 35' 6'
  • Draft 10' 4"
  • Speed 14 kts.
  • Complement 72
  • Armament: Two 3"/50 gun mounts
  • Propulsion: Two Babcock and Wilcox boilers, one triple expansion reciprocating steam engine, one shaft..
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Minesweeper No. 36
    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 Bittern (Minesweeper No. 36)
    Bittern 104k
    Namesake:

    Bittern is a bird of the heron family

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Bittern 276k Manila, Philippines
    Photo from the collection of Chief Walter E. Pegg    		 Jay Milewski
    Finch 118k Finch (AM 9) and Bittern in Manila Bay, Philippines
    Photo from the collection of Chief Walter E. Pegg
    Bittern 120k Photo by Karol Kretowicz
    Bittern 50k c. 1919
    The U-88 transits the Panama Canal, accompanied by Bittern
    Courtesy of the California Wreck Divers Association
    Bittern 160k 17 January 1920
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 56500    		 Mike Green
    Photo added 5 October 2020
    Hart 308k c. 1923/1924
    Hong Kong, China
    American Man of War in Hong Kong Harbor. Identified ships are: Huron (CA 9), Helena (PG 9), Sacramento (PG 19), Asheville (PG 21), Black Hawk (AD 9), Hart (DM 8), Rizal (DM 14), Hulbert (DD 342), Noa (DD 343), William B. Preston (DD 344), Preble (DD 345), later DM-20; Sicard (DD 346), later DM -21; Pruitt (DD 347), later DM-22; Finch
    (AM 9)    , Bittern (AM 36) and SS President Jackson
    Photo by A. Fong
    Photo from the collection of Chief Walter E. Pegg    		 Jay Milewski
    Finch 152k c. 1934
    Chefoo, China
    Finch (AM 9) and Bittern tied up alongside Black Hawk AD-9
    Photo from the collection of Chief Walter E. Pegg
    Bittern 170k Bittern during the later 1930s
    Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1974
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 79073    		 Mike Green
    Photo added 5 October 2020
    Commanding Officers
    01LT William Parker Bachmann, USN28 May 1919 - 20 June 1920
    02LT George Blaine Evans, USN20 June 1920 - 21 September 1921
    03LT John Herbert Falge, USN - USNA Class of 191221 September 1921 - 21 February 1922
    04LT Owen Edison Grimm, USN - USNA Class of 191821 February 1922 - March 1923
    05LCDR Ellis Hugh Geiselman, USN - USNA Class of 1918
    		March 1923 - 19 September 1923
    06LCDR Benjamin Perlman, USN - USNA Class of 1912
    		19 September 1923 - 21 December 1923
    07LT John Herbert Falge, USN - USNA Class of 191221 December 1923 - 15 July 1924
    08LT John Livingstone McCrea, USN - USNA Class of 1915
    Retired as Vice Admiral    		15 July 1924 - 15 November 1924
    09LT Jonathan Henry Sprague, USN - USNA Class of 191515 November 1924 - 10 June 1925
    10LCDR Robert Henry Maury, USN - USNA Class of 191410 June 1925 - 6 March 1926
    11LT John Joseph Bartholdi, USN - USNA Class of 19176 March 1926 - 28 June 1929
    12LT Jewett Parker Moncure, USN - USNA Class of 192028 June 1929 - 28 December 1929
    13LT Frederick Kenneth McElroy, USN - USNA Class of 192228 December 1929 - 15 April 1932
    14LT Valentine Linn Pottle, USN - USNA Class of 192315 April 1932 - 10 September 1934
    15LT Marion Russell Kelley, USN - USNA Class of 1921-a
    Retired as Rear Admiral    		10 September 1934 - 1 March 1935
    16LT Charles Olan Glisson, USN - USNA Class of 1921-b1 March 1935 - 3 July 1936
    17LT Thomas Tyler Beattie, USN - USNA Class of 19223 July 1936 - 27 February 1937
    18LT Samuel Glenn Fuqua, USN - USNA Class of 1923
    Awarded the Medal of Honor (1941) and the Legion of Merit (1945) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		27 February 1937 - 10 August 1939
    19LT Tillett Sharpe Daniel, USN - USNA Class of 192510 August 1939 - 24 February 1940
    20LT Lynn Chism Petross, USN - USNA Class of 192524 February 1940 - 1941
    21LT Thomas Glover Warfield, USN - USNA Class of 1932
    Retired as Rear Admiral    		1941 - 10 December 1941
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Bittern (AM 36)
    DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway website
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