USS Warbler (AM-53) (Minesweeper No. 53) was a laid down on 24 April 1919 by the Philadelphia Navy Yard; launched on 30 July 1919; sponsored by Miss Alice Kempff, the daughter of Capt. C. S. Kempff, the Captain of the Yard; and commissioned on 22 December 1919. After brief service with the Train of the Atlantic Fleet, ''Warbler'' was decommissioned on 16 June 1920 and simultaneously transferred, on loan, to the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...

. The ship operated with a civilian crew under the aegis of Merritt, Chapman, and Scott, a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

-based salvage firm. On 13 September 1941, the Navy reclassified ''Warbler'' a salvage vessel and designated her ARS-11

World War II operations

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she continued to operate with a civilian crew under a contract with the Naval Salvage Service. She was based at the Merritt, Chapman, and Scott salvage depot at

Key West, Florida Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...

, and worked primarily in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, towing disabled ships; assisting stranded or grounded vessels; escorting coastwise convoys; and conducting salvage operations.

End-of-War deactivation

After the war ended, the U.S. Navy designated ''Warbler'' for disposal on 29 March 1946 and declared her surplus on 13 January 1947. She was struck from the

Navy list A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

on 10 June 1947.

References

External links

*
uboat.net - USS ''Warbler''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warbler Lapwing-class minesweepers Ships built in Philadelphia 1919 ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Lapwing-class minesweepers converted to rescue and salvage ships