USS ''Quail'' (AM-15) was a

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

, named after the

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New ...

, a migratory game bird. It was laid down 14 May 1918 by the Chester Shipbuilding Co.,

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (also known as the Delaware Valley) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. ...

; launched 6 October 1918; and commissioned 29 April 1919.

Post-World War I operations

''Quail'' steamed to

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 ...

, Scotland, to join 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 ...

Mine Sweeping Detachment. She operated with this force clearing the North Sea of mines until 25 November 1919. She operated with the Atlantic Fleet in Cuban waters during early 1920, and then along the

U.S. East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always played a m ...

. In September 1922 she was attached to the

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 ...

base 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 ...

, operating in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. ''Quail'' made a cruise to the east coast in late 1923, and in 1925 she was at

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania, for repairs. In 1927 she spent time patrolling the west coast of

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

, and later joined the fleet in the

for maneuvers. From July 1928 to January 1929, she was on the east coast, operating between

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 ...

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. She returned to Coco Solo in 1929. Following duty with the control force in the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

area from 1929 to 1931, ''Quail'' operated out of

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Rec ...

, from 1931 to 1941, including in her duties a period of survey work off

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. On 25 July 1940 the ''Quail'' landed a force to construct a

naval air station A Naval Air Station (NAS) is a military air base, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of a navy (Naval aviation). These bases are typically populated by squadron ...

Palmyra Atoll Palmyra Atoll (), also referred to as Palmyra Island, is one of the Line Islands, Northern Line Islands (southeast of Kingman Reef and north of Kiribati). It is located almost due south of the Hawaiian Islands, roughly one-third of the way be ...

. In 1932, the USS ''Quail'' visited the French Frigate shoals, anchoring near East Island of the

French Frigate Shoals The French Frigate Shoals (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: Kānemilohai) is the largest atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, located about northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu. Its name commemorates France, French explorer Jean-Fran ...

. Using a seaplane tendered from the ship, some of the first aerial photographs of the islands were taken.

World War II Pacific operations

At the outbreak of war with

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, the USS ''Quail'' was in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. During the defense of

Corregidor Corregidor (, , ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of Cavite City and thus the province of Cavite. It is located west of Manila, the nation's capi ...

in the

Battle of Corregidor The Battle of Corregidor (; ), fought on 5–6 May 1942, was the culmination of the Empire of Japan, Japanese Philippines campaign (1941–1942), campaign for the conquest of the Commonwealth of the Philippines during World War II. The Bat ...

(1942), Lieutenant Thomas James Eugene “Jimmy” Crotty,

Coast Guard Academy The United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA), located in New London, Connecticut, is the U.S. service academy specifically for the United States Coast Guard. Founded in 1876, the academy provides education to future Coast Guard officers i ...

Class of 1934, served as the executive officer of the ''Quail''. She shot down enemy aircraft and swept mine fields to keep open a channel providing access to the South Harbor at Corregidor. This enabled U.S. submarines to safely pass and surface at night, delivering goods and removing critical personnel from Corregidor. The ''Quail'' helped defend Bataan during the Battle of the Points. After the ''Quail'' was gutted of arms as Bataan surrendered, her crew then went over to Corregidor to aid in the defense of the island, becoming part of the Marines 4th Regiment as infantry on Corregidor. Crotty then commanded a force of

Marines Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...

and

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

personnel manning 75mm beach guns on the overnight of 5/6 May, firing down on enemy forces landing on Corregidor's beaches. Damaged by enemy bombs and guns, ''Quail'' was scuttled on 5 May 1942 by U.S. forces to prevent her capture. Part of her crew, Lt Cmdr. John H. Morrill and 17 others, escaped to

Darwin, Australia Darwin (Laragiya language, Larrakia: ') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. The city has nearly 53% of the Northern Territory's population, with 139,902 at the 2021 Australian census, ...

, in a 36-foot motor launch. The rest of the crew became

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

of Imperial Japan. A number were sent to Japan to become slave laborers for Japanese companies. Chief Petty Officer Virgil Byrd, sick with wet beriberi and the beginnings of congestive heart failure, was beaten to death on 11 May 1943 at the POW Camp #3D Yodogawa in Osaka, Japan, for selling an extra pair of shoes to a Japanese workman. Byrd was beaten unconscious, revived, and beaten again three times, and died that evening. The POW Camp supplied Allied POW slave labor to Yodogawa Steel Works, Ltd. With Corregidor's capitulation on 6 May 1942, Crotty became the first

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

prisoner of war since the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, when the British had captured

U.S. Revenue Cutter Service The United States Revenue Cutter Service was established by an Act of Congress () on 4 August 1790 as the Revenue-Marine at the recommendation of the nation's first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. The federal government bod ...

cuttermen. At the end of May, the Japanese loaded Crotty and his fellow prisoners into watercraft transferring POWs from Corregidor Island to Manila, where they were marched through the city to Bilibid Prison on the "Walk of Shame" and eventually taken by railroad in boxcars to the Cabanatuan POW camp in northern Luzon. He died of diphtheria July 19, 1942 in the Cabanatuan POW Camp.

Awards

''Quail'' received one

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...

for

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

service.

References

External links

*
USS ''Quail'' (AM 15)

Vessels/Mine Warfare: USS ''Quail'' (AM-15)

* ttps://pows.jiaponline.org/search/label/Crotty%20James THE Coast Guard's POW of Japan {{DEFAULTSORT:Quail (AM-15) Lapwing-class minesweepers Ships built in Chester, Pennsylvania 1918 ships World War I minesweepers of the United States World War II minesweepers of the United States World War II shipwrecks in the Philippine Sea Maritime incidents in May 1942 Scuttled vessels