USS ''Curlew'' (AM-8) was a acquired by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

for the dangerous task of removing

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

s from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing. ''Curlew'' was launched on 29 August 1918 by

Staten Island Shipbuilding Company file:USS Bache (DD-470) underway at sea, in the 1960s.jpg, USS Bache (DD-470), USS ''Bache'', Bethlehem Staten Island first Fletcher-class destroyer built in 1942 Bethlehem Staten Island also called Bethlehem Mariners Harbor was a large shipyard ...

, New York; sponsored by Mrs. G. C. Rhodes; and commissioned on 7 January 1919, Lieutenant John McCloy, a two time

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

recipient, in command.

History

North Atlantic operations

Clearing Boston, Massachusetts on 5 April 1919, ''Curlew'' arrived at

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

, Scotland on 20 April and was fitted out for experimental minesweeping out of

Kirkwall Kirkwall (, , or ; ) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub wi ...

, the

Orkney Islands Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland ...

base for operations in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

minefields. She sailed for home on 2 October, calling at Chatham, England; Brest, France;

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, Portugal; the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

; and

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, and reaching New York on 19 November. Arriving at

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS), often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard on Seavey's Island in Kittery, Maine, bordering Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The naval yard lies along the southern boundary of Maine on ...

on 26 November, she was placed in ordinary on 16 November 1920 without a crew.

East Coast operations

In commission from 29 December 1920 – 7 February 1921, ''Curlew'' served with the Atlantic Fleet, then returned to reserve at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. Recommissioned on 29 October, she cruised to

Guantánamo Bay Guantánamo Bay (, ) is a bay in Guantánamo Province at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the largest harbor on the south side of the island and it is surrounded by steep hills which create an enclave that is cut off from its immediate hint ...

, Cuba, in the first four months of 1922 to give support to the ships training there, then sailed north to New London to serve as

submarine tender A submarine tender, in British English a submarine depot ship, is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally cannot carry large amounts of foo ...

until September. From September 1922 – February 1923, she operated with

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s in

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

and off the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

coast. Reassigned to the

15th Naval District United States Naval Districts is a system created by the United States Navy to organize military facilities, numbered sequentially by geographic region, for the operational and administrative control of naval bases and shore commands in the Unit ...

, ''Curlew'' reported at

Coco Solo Coco Solo was a United States Navy submarine base and naval air station near the Panama Canal, active from 1918 to the 1960s. History The submarine base at Coco Solo was established May 6, 1918. The site corresponds with modern-day Cativá i ...

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a International zone#Concessions, concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area gene ...

on 6 August. Besides acting as tender for

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...

s, she carried out rescue and salvage operations from Coco Solo.

Fate

On 15 December 1925, ''Curlew'' grounded on the rocks at Point Mosquitos, Panama. Determined efforts were made to save her, but the heavy surf broke her to pieces. ''Curlew'' was decommissioned on 28 February 1926, after all salvageable material was removed.

References

External links

*
Tenders – USS ''Curlew''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curlew Lapwing-class minesweepers Ships built in Staten Island 1918 ships Shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea Maritime incidents in 1925