USS Auk (AM-57)

USS Auk (AM-57)


For other ships of the same name, see USS Auk.
Career
Name: USS Auk
Builder: Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia
Laid down: 15 April 1941
Launched: 26 August 1941
Commissioned: 15 January 1942
Decommissioned: 1 July 1946
Reclassified: MSF-57, 7 February 1955
Struck: 1 August 1956
Honours and
awards:
3 battle stars (World War II)
General characteristics
Class & type: Auk-class minesweeper
Displacement: 890 long tons (904 t)
Length: 221 ft 3 in (67.44 m)
Beam: 32 ft (9.8 m)
Draft: 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m)
Speed: 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement: 100 officers and enlisted
Armament: • 1 × 3"/50 caliber gun
• 2 × 40 mm guns
• 8 × 20 mm guns

USS Auk (AM-57) was an Auk-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.

Auk was named after the auk, a diving bird native to the colder climates of the northern hemisphere.

The second warship of the U.S. Navy to be named Auk, the ship was laid down on 15 April 1941 at Portsmouth, Virginia, by the Norfolk Navy Yard; launched on 26 August; sponsored by Miss Priscilla Alden Hague, the daughter of Comdr. Wesley M. Hague; and commissioned on 15 January 1942, Lt. Comdr. George W. Allen in command.

Read more about USS Auk (AM-57):  Participation in Operation "Torch", Participation in Operation "Overlord", Participation in Operation "Dragoon", Post-World War II Operations, Decommissioning, Awards