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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Teal (AVP 5)



Call sign:
Nan - Able - Peter - Nan

ex-AM-23
ex-Minesweeper No. 23



Call sign (1919):
George - Tare - Vice - Nan
Lapwing Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down, 8 October 1917 by Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Chester, PA
  • Launched 25 May 1918
  • Commissioned USS Teal, Minesweeper No.23, 20 August 1918
  • Designated AM-23, 17 February 1920
  • Modified to serve as an aircraft tender in November 1919
  • Reclassified as a Small Seaplane Tender, AVP-5, 22 January 1936
  • Decommissioned and struck from the Navy Register 5 December 1946 at Seattle, WA
  • Transferred to the War Shipping Administration in January 1948 at Port Norland, WA and sold to Murray E. Baker
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 950 t.
    1936 - 1,350 t.
  • Length 187' 10"
  • Beam 35' 6'
  • Draft 9' 10"
    1936 - 13' 1"
  • Speed 14 kts.
    1936 - 13.5 kts.
  • Complement 78
    1936 - 85
  • Armament: Two 3" gun mounts and two machine guns
    1936 - One 3"/50 dual purpose mount
  • Propulsion: Two Babcock and Wilcox boilers, one triple expansion reciprocating steam engine, one shaft
    1936 - One 1,400shp Harlan and Hollingsworth Corp. 200psi saturated steam vertical triple expansion reciprocating engine.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Teal (Minesweeper No. 23)
    Teal 70k Namesake: Teal - Any of several small, short-necked, river ducks common to Europe and America Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 16 February 2020
    Teal 80k Photo from "Sweeping the North Sea Mine Barrage" by the U.S. Navy North Sea Minesweeping Detachment Joe Radigan
    Teal 268k
    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
    USS Teal (AM 23)
    Teal 101k Inport with Gilmer (DD 233) in background
    U. S. Navy photo from the Navy Recruitment Bureau, New York     		Jon Burdett
    Teal 50k Seen here tending seaplanes, c. December 1919 to 21 January 1936. Note old hull number (23)
    U.S. Navy photo     		Hazegray & Underway Web Site
    Teal 81k View of the Philadelphia Navy Yard's Delaware River waterfront, with the hammerhead crane in center, 31 May 1923. Among the ships visible are: USS Lamson (DD-328), in left center; USS Sandpiper (AM-51) and Teal (AM 23), at right, with the crane ship Kearsarge beyond; Destroyers Preston (DD-327), Coghlan (DD-326) and Sharkey (DD-281), partially visible at left. USS Dobbin (AD-3) is fitting out on the opposite side of the pier, at left
    U.S. Navy photo NH 43453     		Naval Historical Center
    Teal 109k Teal, photographed using sails while serving as an aircraft tender circa 1925
    U.S. Navy photos NH 50174 and NH 59926 from the Naval History and Heritage Command     		Robert Hurst
    Teal 119k Postcard: Postmarked 1 September 1935, USS Teal, Puerto Castilla, Honduras Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR, Ret.
    USS Teal (AVP 5)
    Teal 161k Crew photo Craig Kulpa
    Teal 85k Teal off the Mare Island Navy Yard on 9 July 1942.
    National Archives photo 19-N-31394 from the Naval History and Heritage Command     		Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Frederick Meyer, USN - Awarded the Navy Cross (1919)20 August 1918
    02LT Raymond Carlton McDuffie, USN30 November 1921
    03Chief Boatswain Philip Joseph Kelly, USN 1923
    04LT Frederick John Legere, USN31 May 1927
    05LT James Francis McCarthy, USN11 August 1929
    06LT Lucian Ragonnet, USN - Retired as Rear Admiral1932
    07LT Angus Meade Cohan, USN1934
    08LT Edgar Allen Cruise, USN - Retired as Vice Admiral1936
    09LT Robert Burns Pirie, USN - Retired as Vice AdmiralMay 1938 - November 1939
    10LT Henry Johnston McRoberts, USNNovember 1939 - 8 August 1941
    11LCDR Albert Sidney Major, Jr., USN8 August 1941 - 7 January 1942
    12LT Reuben Jacobsen, USNR7 January 1942 - 13 November 1943
    13LTJG Merle Francis Parrott, USN13 November 1943 - 17 December 1943
    14LTJG Robert Emanuael Noel, USNR17 December 1943 - 17 June 1944
    15LT Lawrence Howard Breland, USNR17 June 1944 - 23 November 1945
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Teal (AM-23)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
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