The first USS Swan (AM-34/AVP-7) was a acquired by the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.

Swan, a minesweeper, was laid down at Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

, on 10 December 1917 by the Alabama Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co.; launched on Independence Day

Independence Day (United States)

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...

 1918; sponsored by Miss Hazel Donaldson; and commissioned at New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

, on 31 January 1919, Lt. (jg.) Fredman J. Walcott, USNRF, in command.

North Sea mine clearance operations

Almost immediately, Swan prepared to sail to Scotland, there to participate in clearing the huge North Sea Mine Barrage laid in 1918 to prevent warships and submarines of German High Seas Fleet from breaking out into the Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

. Assigned to Division Five, North Sea Minesweeping Detachment, Swan arrived at Kirkwall, Scotland, with the first wave of twelve minesweepers on 20 April 1919. Under the command of Rear Admiral Joseph Strauss

Joseph Strauss (admiral)

Admiral Joseph Strauss was an officer of the United States Navy, who served in World War I, and later commanded the Asiatic Fleet.-Biography:...

, who broke his flag in tender (Destroyer Tender

Destroyer tender

A destroyer tender is a ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of the 20th century as the roles of small combatants have evolved .Due to the increased size and automation of...

 No. 9), the minesweepers began operations out of Inverness Firth nine days later.

Their task was monumental, as the American minesweepers (in company with modified sub chasers and British minesweepers) were tasked with sweeping over 70,000 mines laid in an area roughly 240 miles (386.2 km) long by 25 miles (40.2 km) wide, or over 6000 square miles (15,539.9 km²). Swan conducted mine sweeping operations for the next five months, spending 108 of those days at sea. Some diversion from the grueling, dangerous work was provided by the thousands of fish killed by the exploding mines, which providing an abundance of cod

Cod

Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...

 and herring

Herring

Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...

 for the Mine Detachments' cooks. Sailing for home on 1 October, the detachment made stops at Devonport, England; Brest, France

Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

; Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

, Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

; the Azores

Azores

The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

; and Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

; before arriving in New York on 20 November.

Post-World War I Atlantic operations

Assigned to Division 2 of Mine Squadron 2 of the Atlantic Fleet

United States Fleet Forces Command

The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...

, Swan completed final acceptance trials in the spring of 1920 and began routine operations out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...

, in late June. These operations included buoy

Buoy

A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...

 work and wreck salvage, and the latter duty is what brought the minesweeper into Cape Cod Bay

Cape Cod Bay

Cape Cod Bay is a large bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Measuring below a line drawn from Brant Rock in Marshfield to Race Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts, it is enclosed by Cape Cod to the south and east, and Plymouth County, Massachusetts, to the west....

 in November of that year. On 28 November, during an attempt to refloat a wrecked oil barge, heavy seas came up quickly and cast Swan on the beach in Cape Cod Bay. The sudden disaster stranded the minesweeper on the beach and mountainous seas threatened to wreck the stricken ship. Rapid response by the Gurnet Beach Coast Guard crew saved the day, however, and the Coast Guards' heroic efforts brought all fifty-six sailors to safety through breeches buoy

Breeches buoy

A breeches buoy is a crude rope-based rescue device used to extract people from wrecked vessels, or to transfer people from one location to another in situations of danger. The device resembles a round emergency personal flotation device with a leg harness attached...

 and surfboat

Surfboat

A surfboat is an oar-driven boat designed to enter the ocean from the beach in heavy surf or severe waves. It is often used in lifesaving or rescue missions where the most expedient access to victims is directly from the beach.-Construction:...

.

The stranded minesweeper survived the winter on the beach and was refloated on 22 February 1921 and towed to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for repairs. During that process Swan decommissioned there on 23 May 1922 before being placed in commission again on 23 June 1923. That fall, she was assigned to the Washington Navy Yard

Washington Navy Yard

The Washington Navy Yard is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy...

 but operated out of Quantico, Virginia

Quantico, Virginia

- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there are 561 people, 295 households, and 107 families living in the town. The population density is . There are 359 housing units at an average density of .-Racial composition:...

, where she provided target and other fleet services. By the spring of 1926, Swan changed duty stations again, this time working for the 15th Naval District out of Coco Solo

Coco Solo

Coco Solo was a United States Navy submarine base established in 1918 on the Atlantic Ocean side of the Panama Canal Zone, near Colón, Panama....

 in the Panama Canal Zone

Panama Canal Zone

The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...

. On 30 April 1931, while still in the Canal Zone, she was designated a "minesweeper for duty with aircraft," presaging her later change of designation. She decommissioned again on 21 December 1933, this time at San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

. A little over three months later, on 2 April 1934, the minesweeper was commissioned for the third time and reassigned to the Fleet Air Base at Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

. On 22 January 1936, Swan was officially redesignated a small seaplane tender, AVP-7.

Under attack at Pearl Harbor

For the next five years, Swan operated as a tender for Patrol Wing (PatWing) 2 out of Pearl Harbor. On the morning of 7 December 1941, she was resting on the Marine Railway dock at Pearl Harbor when Japanese planes swooped in on the ships in the harbor. Her crew saw the first bomb dropped on the south ramp of the Fleet Air Base at 0755. Eight minutes later, she opened fire with her 3-inch anti-aircraft battery. The next few hours were so hectic for her that her crew could not maintain a chronological log of the action, but they did claim an enemy aircraft for their 3-inch battery. Though she had been in drydock for boiler upkeep, her engineers had her ready to refloat by 1315.

World War II Pacific Theatre operations

Swan remained in Pearl Harbor for another month, assisting in the salvage work. Then, on 8 January 1942, she got underway for American Samoa

American Samoa

American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...

. She arrived at Pago Pago on the 18th and remained until 25 July, except for a voyage to the Danger Islands

Danger Island

Danger Island is the westernmost and the southernmost island of the Great Chagos Bank, which is the world's largest coral atoll structure, located in the Chagos Archipelago.-Description:...

 in mid-March to rescue three naval airman who survived 34 days at sea and had landed on island of Puka Puka

Pukapuka

Pukapuka is a coral atoll in the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean, with three small islets threaded on a reef that encloses a beautifully clear lagoon. It is the most remote island of the Cook Islands, situated about 1140 kilometres northwest of Rarotonga. It is a triangular atoll with three...

, and a month-long visit to Wallis Island

Wallis Island

Wallis is an island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the French overseas collectivity of Wallis and Futuna....

 from late May to early July. She headed back to Pearl Harbor on the 25th and arrived on 4 August. She was overhauled there and, after loading ammunition

Ammunition

Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...

 and supplies at Kaneohe Naval Air Station, from 28 to 30 October got underway to return to the South Pacific. On this voyage, she visited Canton Island, Suva

Suva

Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...

 in the Fiji Islands, Funafuti

Funafuti

Funafuti is an atoll that forms the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 4,492 , making it the most populated atoll in the country. It is a narrow sweep of land between 20 and 400 metres wide, encircling a large lagoon 18 km long and 14 km wide, with a surface of...

 in the Ellice Islands, Gardner Island, Sydney Island

Manra Island

Manra Island or Sydney Island, is one of the Phoenix Islands in the Republic of Kiribati. It lies at . W. longitude, and has an area of 4.4 km2. and an elevation of approximately six meters...

, Hull Island, and Palmyra Island. She departed Palmyra Island on 8 December and returned to Pearl Harbor on the 13th. Swan put to sea again on the 30th to carry supplies to Canton Island. She unloaded her cargo there on 7 January 1943 and reentered Pearl Harbor on the 16th. The tender remained at Pearl Harbor until 12 March when she sailed to Johnston Island to tow YC-811 back to Pearl Harbor.

Swan returned to Pearl Harbor on 23 March and, from then until the beginning of May, she assisted the fleet air wing by towing targets for bombing practice. From 8 to 22 May, she made a voyage to Tern Island of French Frigate Shoals

French Frigate Shoals

The French Frigate Shoals is the largest atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Its name commemorates French explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse, who nearly lost two frigates when attempting to navigate the shoals...

, located about halfway between the main Hawaiian Islands

Hawaiian Islands

The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...

 and Midway Island. Upon her return to Pearl Harbor, she resumed target-towing duties, this time for torpedo bombers. Between 1 and 7 June, she made another round-trip voyage to French Frigate Shoals and back, then resumed target towing and torpedo

Torpedo

The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...

 recovery duty.

For the next two years, Swan's area of operations was confined to the immediate vicinity of the major islands of the Territory of Hawaii

Territory of Hawaii

The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 7, 1898, until August 21, 1959, when its territory, with the exception of Johnston Atoll, was admitted to the Union as the fiftieth U.S. state, the State of Hawaii.The U.S...

. She continued to participate in training missions by towing targets and recovering torpedoes for both planes and ships. She also transported passengers and cargo between the islands and rendered other auxiliary services.

Post-World War II operations

By June 1945, she was in the Consolidated Shipyard, in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, undergoing a major overhaul. She remained there through the month of July and into August. On 13 August, Swan headed back to Pearl Harbor and arrived on the 21st. She resumed her routine until 6 October, when she set sail for San Diego, California. After a two-day stop there, on the 15th and 16th, she continued on to the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

. She arrived at Coco Solo in the Canal Zone on 28 October and, two days later, continued on to Boston, Massachusetts. She reported to the Commandant, 1st Naval District, at Boston on 9 November.

Decommissioning

On 13 December 1945, pursuant to the findings of a board of inspection and survey, Swan was decommissioned at Boston, Massachusetts. Her name was struck from the Navy List

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 on 8 January 1946 and, just over nine months later, on 12 October, her hulk was delivered to the Maritime Commission at Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

, for disposal.

External links

• USS Swan (AVP-7), Official Action Report for 7 December 1941