Minesweepers of the United States Navy: Amcu-7 Class Minesweepers, Ability Class Minesweepers, Accentor Class Minesweepers

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 28. Chapters: Auxiliary Motor Minesweepers (YMS), MinRon, USS Alaska (ID-3035), USS Amagansett (SP-693), USS Ardent (SP-680), USS Auk (AM-38), USS Aurora (SP-345), USS Breakwater (SP-681), USS Charles P. Crawford (SP-366), USS City of Lewes (SP-383), USS East Hampton (SP-573), USS Edward J. McKeever Jr. (SP-684), USS Elizabeth M. Froelich (SP-380), USS Eugene F. Price (SP-839), USS Foam (ID-2496), USS Freehold (SP-347), USS G. H. McNeal (SP-312), USS Gallup (SP-694), USS George H. Bradley (SP-327), USS George P. Squires (SP-303), USS Hampton (PCS-1386), USS Helen Euphane (SP-403), USS Henlopen (SP-385), USS Ibis (SP-3051), USS James (SP-429), USS John Sealy (SP-568), USS Kenneth L. McNeal (SP-333), USS Knickerbocker (SP-479), USS Lowell (SP-504), USS M. M. Davis (SP-314), USS Mary B. Garner (SP-682), USS McKeever Brothers (SP-683), USS Newark (SP-266), USS Otis W. Douglas (SP-313), USS Pennsylvania R. R. No. 9 (SP-679), USS Pocomoke (SP-265), USS Ripple (ID-2439), USS Robert H. McCurdy (SP-3157), USS Roselle (SP-350), USS S. T. Co. No. 2 (SP-267), USS Seneca (SP-427), USS Spartan (SP-336), USS Spray (ID-2491), USS Surf (SP-341), USS Tasco (SP-502), USS Vester (SP-686). Excerpt: USS Auk (AM-38) was an Lapwing-class minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy after World War I for the task of removing mines that had been placed during the war. The first ship to be named Auk by the Navy, Minesweeper No. 38 was laid down on 20 June 1918 at New York City by the Todd Shipyard Corp.; launched on 28 September 1918; sponsored by Miss Nan McArthur Beattie daughter of a Todd Shipyard foremen, and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 31 January 1919, Lt. Gregory Cullen in command. Auk between World War I and World War II, was converted into a survey ship for the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and was renamed USS Discoverer (ARS-3) as well as USC&GS Discoverer. Upon completion of her initial fitting out and dock trials, Auk proceeded to Tompkinsville, Staten Island, on the afternoon of 24 February. There, her commanding officer reported to the Commander, Minesweeping Division, 3d Naval District. On 2 March, Auk sailed for Newport, Rhode Island, in company with USS Curlew (AM-8) (Minesweeper No. 8) and arrived there the next morning. At that port, Lt. Cullen attended a conference on board the Mine Force flagship, USS Baltimore (C-3), on the 5th. Returning to the Mine Sweeping Base at New York on the morning of the 6th, Auk left New York waters the following afternoon, bound for Boston, Massachusetts. The minesweeper, rolling and pitching heavily as the winds and seas rose, was proceeding on her coastwise voyage when, in the predawn darkness of the 0000-0400 watch on 8 March, men in the crews' compartment detected water entering their space at an alarming rate. While some of the crew bailed doggedly, others rigged a handy billy, and, later, a wrecking pump, in an effort to cope with the flooding. Lt. Cullen, seeing that Auk was taking water faster than it was humanly possible to pump it out or bail it, prudently decided to seek refuge for his ship. Auk accordingly altered course at 0905 and plunged through the rough seas and a veritable curtain of fog, whi