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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

YNg-20



Call sign:
Nan - Item - King - Roger

ex-Eider (AM 17)



Call sign (1924):
Nan - Unit - Rush - King

ex-Minesweeper No. 17



Call sign (1919):
George - Tare - Sail - Dog
Lapwing Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 25 September 1917 by the Pusey and Jones Co., Wilmington, DE
  • Launched 26 May 1918
  • Commissioned USS Eider, Minesweeper No. 17, 23 January 1919
  • Designated AM-17, 17 July 1920
  • Placed in reduced commission 1 December 1919
  • Placed in full commission 10 July 1920
  • Placed in reduced commission a second time 10 September 1920
  • Decommissioned 18 April 1922
  • Reclassified as a Gate Vessel, YNg-20, 7 October 1940
    Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists reclassification date as November 1940
  • Placed in service in 1941 at the 12th Naval District (Mare Island, CA)
  • Struck from the Naval Register 28 November 1945
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission 1 July 1947 for disposal
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 840 t.
  • Length 187' 10"
  • Beam 35' 6'
  • Draft 9' 9"
  • Speed 14 kts.
  • Complement 61
  • Armament: Two 3" gun mounts
  • Propulsion: Two Babcock and Wilcox boilers, one triple expansion reciprocating steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Eider (Minesweeper No. 17)
    Eider 43k
    Namesake:

    Eider - Any of several large sea ducks of America, Northern Europe and Asia

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Woodcock 110k While taking part in clearing the North Sea mine barrage, "The fleet put in (to) Stavanger, a bustling town in Norway, made prosperous by the war." (quoted from the original 1919 vintage caption). Woodcock (Minesweeper No. 14) is in the foreground. In the left background are (from front to rear): USS SC-356, USS SC-40, Eider, USS Sanderling (Minesweeper No. 37) - probable identification, USS Auk (Minesweeper No. 38) and an unidentified minesweeper.
    U. S. Navy photo from the Navy Recruitment Bureau, New York
    U.S. Navy photo NH 45258    		 Naval Historical Center
    Eider 119k Eider with identification letter "N" in a North Sea port, probably Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, during the the North Sea mine barrage clearance operation in 1919. She has several submarine chasers alongside including, from left to right: SC-25, SC-45, SC-356, SC-47 and SC-40. Halftone reproduction, published in the cruise book "Sweeping the North Sea Mine Barrage, 1919", page 142.
    Donation of Chief Storekeeper Charles A. Free.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 99789
    Pelican 56k Photo from "Sweeping the North Sea Mine Barrage" by the U.S. Navy North Sea Minesweeping Detachment Joe Radigan
    Eider 279k
    Swallow/Woodcock/Eider/Teal 256k Celebrating the return of the Atlantic Fleet Mine-Sweeping Detachment return to U.S. on 24 November 1919, and being reviewed by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels. Ships identifiable here include: USS Woodcock (AM-14), USS SC-164, USS Eider (AM-17), USS SC-40, USS Swallow (AM-4), USS Teal (AM-23)
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 45238    		 Mike Green
    Bobolink 216k Drawing of Bobolink (Minesweeper No. 20) with Eider Jim Kurrasch, Battleship Iowa, Pacific Battleship Center
    USS Eider (AM 17)
    Eider 79k c. August - September 1920
    Mare Island, CA     		Darryl Baker
    PE-34, 38, 6, 35, 12, 7, 8, 10, 58 & 25 204k Naval History and Heritage Command states their photo NH 54315 is Mare Island circa 1919. I checked repair availabilities and yard journals at Mare Island for E Boats and determined the following: The photo was taken in December 1920 and showing Eagle boats (PE-34, PE-38, PE-6, PE-35, PE-12, PE-7, PE-8, PE-10, PE-58 and PE-25) at the subase. At the end of the wharf (far right) there are two minesweepers (Brant [AM 24] and Eider [AM 17]) with several submarines moored to these sweepers. Shipyard daily journals (deck logs) indicate that they are F-3 [SS-22] and F-2 [SS-21] Darryl Baker
    Photo added 14 April 2022
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Arthur Edward Freed, USN - Awarded the Navy Cross (1920)23 January 1919 - 5 August 1920
    02LT Edwin Ray Wroughton, USN5 August 1920
    03ENS Thomas Macklin, USN5 December 1920
    04Boatswain Harry Elwood Montgomery, USN25 April 1921 - 18 April 1922
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    View the Eider (AM 17) DANFS History
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    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & David Wright
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