USS Bittern (AM-36)

History
United States
Name	USS Bittern
Builder	Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., Mobile, Alabama
Cost	$761,587 (hull and machinery)
Launched	15 February 1919
Commissioned	28 May 1919, as Minesweeper No.36
Reclassified	AM-36, 17 July 1920
Fate	Scuttled in Manila Bay, 10 December 1941
General characteristics
Class and type	Lapwing-class minesweeper
Displacement	840 long tons (853 t)
Length	187 ft 10 in (57.25 m)
Beam	35 ft 6 in (10.82 m)
Draft	9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)
Speed	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement	72
Armament	2 × 3 in (76 mm) guns; 2 × machine guns;

USS Bittern (AM-36) was a Lapwing-class minesweeper in the United States Navy. She was named after the bittern, a bird of the heron family. The vessel was constructed by Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., in Mobile, Alabama, and launched on 15 February 1919 and commissioned on 28 May later that year. Initially operating in U.S. coastal waters, the vessel was reassigned to western Pacific operations in 1920, based in the Philippine Islands. Shortly after the U.S. entry into World War II, Bittern was scuttled to avoid capture after being severely damaged during a Japanese air raid on Cavite Navy Yard in December 1941.

Construction and career

Bittern was launched 15 February 1919 by Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., Mobile, Alabama; sponsored by Mrs. C. R. Doll; and commissioned 28 May 1919. Bittern's first duty was as tender to the captured German submarine SM UB-88 while she made an exhibition tour of the U.S. Gulf Coast and U.S. West Coast ports.

In January 1920 Bittern sailed for the Far East where she remained for the rest of her active service. Throughout most of the next 21 years she wintered at Cavite, Philippine Islands, and summered at Chefoo, China. But the routine was broken occasionally by assignment to scientific expeditions and in September 1923 by relief work following the Yokohama, Japan, earthquake.

Fate

The Japanese air raid on Cavite Navy Yard on 10 December 1941 found Bittern undergoing repairs. Although not hit, Bittern suffered extensive damage from fire, near misses, and flying debris from USS Sealion moored alongside. Too badly damaged for repair, the minesweeper was scuttled in Manila Bay during the Battle of Bataan,^[2] after her crew had transferred to USS Quail.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

^ "Table 21 - Ships on Navy List June 30, 1919". Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office: 762. 1921.
^ Whitman, John (1990). Bataan: Our Last Ditch. New York: Hippocrene Books. p. 573. ISBN 0870528777.