USS Widgeon (AM-22)
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USS Widgeon (AM-22) ca. 1926, photographed from the deck of an R-class submarine at Hawaii.
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| Name: | USS Widgeon |
| Builder: | Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company; Chester, Pennsylvania |
| Laid down: | 8 October 1917 |
| Launched: | 5 May 1918 |
| Commissioned: | 27 July 1918, as Minesweeper No.22 |
| Decommissioned: | 5 February 1947 |
| Reclassified: |
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| Struck: | 23 December 1947 |
| Honors and awards: |
1 battle star (World War II) |
| Fate: | Sold for scrapping, 1948 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Lapwing-class minesweeper |
| Displacement: | 950 long tons (970 t) |
| Length: | 187 ft 10 in (57.25 m) |
| Beam: | 35 ft 6 in (10.82 m) |
| Draft: | 9 ft 9 in (2.97 m) |
| Speed: | 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h) |
| Complement: | 85 |
| Armament: | 2 × 3 in (76 mm) guns |
USS Widgeon (AM-22/ASR-1) was an Lapwing-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing. Later converted to a submarine rescue ship. Widgeon was named by the Navy after the widgeon, a fresh water duck.
Widgeon (Minesweeper No. 22) was laid down on 8 October 1917 at Chester, Pennsylvania, by the Sun Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 5 May 1918; sponsored by Ms. Mildred Moyer; and commissioned on 27 July 1918, Lieutenant Commander John A. Monroe in command.
Widgeon served with Minesweeping Group 2 of the Atlantic Fleet during the last months of World War I. After the armistice, she was assigned to the North Sea Minesweeping Detachment and departed Boston, Massachusetts, on 28 June 1919, bound for Scotland. Arriving at Kirkwall on 10 July, Widgeon operated in the North Sea between Scotland and Norway, sweeping up mines sown by the Allies the year before to deter the German High Seas Fleet. These duties – often difficult and dangerous – kept the minesweeper occupied through the summer of 1919. Following the conclusion of the operation, Widgeon headed home – via Brest, France; Ponta Delgada, Azores; and Hamilton, Bermuda — and arrived at New York on 19 November 1919.
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