Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive
Contributed by Wolfgang Hechler

Osprey (AM 56)



Call sign:
Nan - Able - Zebra - Charlie

Sunk 5 June 1944
Raven Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 28 June 1939 at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA
  • Launched 24 August 1940
  • Commissioned 16 December 1940
  • Sunk 5 June 1944 after striking a mine in the English Channel en route to Normandy invasion beaches
  • Struck from the Naval Register 22 August 1944.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 810 t.
  • Length 220' 5"
  • Beam 32'
  • Draft 9' 5"
  • Speed 18.1 kts.
  • Complement 105
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose mount, two 40mm mounts and two depth charge tracks
  • Propulsion: Two 1,800shp Fairbanks Morse 38RD8 diesel engines, Westinghouse single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Osprey 44k Namesake: Osprey - A large hawk-like bird with a dark brown back and a white breast, found in most countries of the world Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 26 February 2020
    Osprey 155k c. 1940
    Ships bell
    Photo from Wrecksite.eu    		 Ron Reeve
    Osprey 90k Underway, circa April 1941, probably while running trials. Her bow numbers have been freshly painted out
    U.S. Navy photo NH 84026    		 Naval Historical Center
    Osprey 101k Off the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, 19 April 1941
    National Archives photos 19-N-23989, 19-N-23990 and 19-N-23991
    Osprey 98k
    Osprey 97k
    Osprey 288k c. 1943 Original photo: Hyperwar U.S. Navy in WWII
    Replacement photo: Bill Gonyo
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Cecil Llewellyn Blackwell, USN16 December 1940 - 15 January 1943
    02LT Charles Henry Swimm, USN15 January 1943 - 5 June 1944
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    View the Osprey (AM-56)
    DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway website
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back To the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Minesweeper (AM) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & David Wright
    All Pages © 1996 - 2023, NavSource History, All rights reserved.