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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Oglala (ARG 1)



ARG-1 call sign:
Nan - Peter - Xray - Uncle

ex-Oglala (CM 4)



Call sign:
Nan - Easy - Peter - Jig

ex-Shawmut (CM 4)
ex-Shawmut (ID 1255)



Call sign (1919):
George - Rush - Jig - Love

ex-Massachusetts (ID 1255)

Aroostook Class Minelayer:

  • Built in 1907 as Massachusetts by William Cramp and Sons Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA
  • Acquired by the Navy 31 October 1917
  • Commissioned USS Massachusetts (ID 1255), 7 December 1917
    (1921 edition of Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels listed commissioning date as 7 January 1918)
  • Renamed Shawmut 7 January 1918
  • Converted to an Aviation Tender after World War I
  • Reclassified as a Minelayer, CM-4 in 1920
  • Renamed Oglala 1 January 1928
  • Lost to enemy action, 7 December 1941 at Pearl Harbor, HI
  • Refloated and placed "in ordinary" status
  • Reclassified as an Internal Combustion Engine Repair Ship, ARG-1, 21 May 1943
    Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists reclassification to ARG-1 as June 1943
  • Placed in full commission, 28 February 1944
  • Decommissioned, 11 July 1946 at San Francisco CA.
  • Struck from the Navy Register 12 July 1946
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 12 July 1946
    Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists plan for transfer to the War Shipping Administration as March 1947
  • Sold for scrap in November 1965 to Joffe Brothers Shipbreaking Yard of Richmond, CA.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 3,746 t.
  • Length 386' 4"
  • Length between perpendiculars 375'
  • Beam 52' 2'
  • Draft 18' 6"
    1921 - 16'
  • Depth of hold 31' 7"
  • Speed 17 kts.
  • Complement 407
    1921 - 425
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose mount and two machine guns
    1944 - One 5"/38 dual purpose mount, four 3"/50 dual purpose mounts and two twin 40mm mounts
  • Propulsion: Three 180psi saturated steam White-Forster boilers (1921 - Eight single ended cylinderical boilers), two 3,500ihp Cramp vertical-triple expansion engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    SS Massachusetts
    Aroostook 101k What will be the Eastern Steamship Co's passenger vessels Massachusetts (outboard) and Bunker Hill (pierside) are in the water at Cramp's shipyard on 10 February 1907. The Navy acquired them in 1917 as ID-1256 Aroostook and ID-1255 Shawmut
    From Cramp yard photos, ISM     		Dave Boone and John Chiquoine
    Oglala 137k Shown after she was purchased and remodeled by the Eastern Steam Ship Corporation in 1912
    Donation of Captain Stephen S. Roberts, USNR, (Retired) 2008
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 105646-KN    		 Robert Hurst
    Isabel 87k USS Yacona (SP-617) at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, circa December 1917, painted in pattern camouflage. Yacht Isabel, then being prepared for service as USS Isabel (SP-521), is on the other side of the pier from Yacona. Steamers in the background are Aroostook (ID 1256), formerly S.S. Bunker Hill and Massachusetts, which became USS Shawmut (ID 1255)
    U.S. Navy photo NH 102576    		 Naval Historical Center
    USS Shawmut (ID 1255)
    Shawmut 86k Undated post card Tommy Trampp
    Shawmut 110k At the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, 4 June 1918, following conversion to a mine layer. Her sister ship, USS Aroostook (ID 1256), is in the background
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 41959    		 Robert Hurst
    Shawmut 140k Ship's officers and men posed on board at Inverness, Scotland, in September 1918, after having subscribed 100% on the first day of the Fourth Liberty Loan drive.
    From the collection of Eugene J. Grow
    U.S. Navy photo NH 50492    		 Naval Historical Center
    Canonicus 125k U.S. Navy Mine Layers steaming in line abreast during the laying of the North Sea mine barrage, September 1918. Analysis of camouflage patterns indicates that these ships are (from front to rear): USS Roanoke (ID 1695); USS Housatonic (ID 1697); USS Shawmut (ID 1255); USS Canandaigua (ID 1694); USS Canonicus (ID 1696); with USS Quinnebaug (ID 1687) and USS Saranac (ID 1702) in the left and right center distance. A four-stack British cruiser is in the left distance
    U.S. Navy photo NH 61101
    Shawmut 72k 20 September 1918
    North Sea
    HMS Vampire laying a smoke screen around the minelayer Shawmut
    Imperial War Museum photo © IWM(Q 20259), American First World War Official Exchange Collection    		 Robert Hurst
    Shawmut 96k Operating at sea in October 1918, during the laying of the North Sea mine barrage. The ship is painted in a disruptive camouflage scheme
    U.S. Navy Photo NH 42398    		 Naval Historical Center
    Shawmut 102k U.S. Atlantic Fleet at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 6 April 1919. Shawmut, is in the center, and USS Henley (Destroyer # 39), at right
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 79529    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Shawmut (CM 4)
    Oglala 70k Joe Mastrota
    Mahan 37k USS Mahan (DM 7) still wearing her DD hull number and Shawmut in Cuba in 1919-1920. Both have Curtiss H-16 flying boats alongside
    Photo DD 102-Shawmut Cuba 1920 from collection of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum    		 Mike Green
    Shawmut 1002k Moored at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, January 1920, tending to two Burgess-built Curtiss N-9 aircraft, A-2636 on the water by her stern and A-2585 is resting on her after deck. Both were assigned to Shawmut from 31 October 1919 to 10 August 1920, after which both were returned to the Naval Aircraft Factory and sold to private citizens in November 1920. A YV-class seaplane barge (incorrectly identified in the NHHC caption as a "Sea Sled") and motor launch are tied up along her starboard side.
    Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 78226    		 Darryl Baker
    Shawmut 138k c. 1920
    U.S. Navy photo from the March 1969 edition of All Hands magazine    		 Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory)
    Shawmut 75k c. April 1921
    Shawmut (CM 4), Sandpiper (AM 51), and flying boats enroute to Hampton Roads to participate in bombing experiments off Virginia Capes, April 1921
    U.S. Navy photo     		Naval History and Heritage Command
    Shawmut 125k In the Caribbean area, April 1924
    U.S. Navy photo NH 42399    		 Naval Historical Center
    Shawmut 191k c. 1924
    S-16 (SS-121) & next to her is possibly the S-50 (SS-161) with another unknown S-boat and four unidentified R-boats alongside their tender, Shawmut probably in the Panama
    Canal area
    National Archives photo 80-G-1024884    		 Original Photo: Daniel Dunham
    Replacement photo: Ron Titus
    Oglala 274k 11 March 1925
    San Diego Bay
    From the collection of Benetta Buell    		 David Buell
    Oglala 154k c. 1925
    U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Museum/Naval Aviation Museum photo No.2008.142.001.068    		 Mike Green
    Shawmut 89k In the Hudson River, New York, with YO-5 alongside, 2 May 1927
    U.S. Navy photo NH 43613    		 Naval Historical Center
    Shawmut 128k USS Holland (AS-3) with submarines alongside at San Diego, c. 1927--USS Langley (CV-1) appears at North Island with Shawmut (CM-4) astern of the carrier. The nearest destroyer on the left is USS Edsall (DD 219).
    U.S. Navy photo NR&L (Mod) 19972    		 Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
    Shawmut 54k 4 January 1928
    Photo caption: "Photo shows USS Oglala which will proceed to Hampton Roads where she will embark about 425 men and 20 officers and sail with them to the scene of trouble in Nicaragua. The other battalion of Marines will be carried on the USS Argonne from San Diego."
    International Newsreel photo    		 Tommy Trampp
    Shawmut 31k 5 January 1928
    Boston, MA
    Photo caption:
    "U.S. Fighting ship Leaves For Nicaragua.
    Photo shows USS Og[l]ala leaving her berth at the Navy Yard amid all the warlike activities attendant upon embarkation of troops for the front. Marine reinforcements for the guard in Nicaragua will be picked up on the way."
    International Newsreel photo
    Oglala 67k 9 January 1928
    Hampton Roads, VA
    U.S. Marines loading boxes of cartridges on Oglala which is about to leave for the fighting zone in Nicaragua
    International Newsreel photo
    Shawmut 55k 9 January 1928
    Hampton Roads, VA
    Photo caption:
    "Photo shows front view of the U.S.S. Oglala, which is being supplied speedily for service in Nicaragua. 500 U.S. Marines on board, and the vessel is commanded by
    CAPT W. S. Pye."
    International Newsreel photo
    Oglala 71k 10 January 1928
    Hampton Roads, VA
    U.S. Marines of the 11th Regiment boarding Oglala at the Naval Base for service in Nicaragua
    International Newsreel photo 415995
    Oglala 166k c. 1929
    U.S. Navy photo from the February 1969 edition of All Hands magazine    		 Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory)
    USS Oglala (CM 4)
    Shawmut 94k Circa late 1920s, soon after she was refitted with new boilers and a single smokestack. Note pine trees suspended from her jack staff and foremast yards. USS Overton
    (DD-239)     is among the destroyers visible in the left background
    U.S. Navy photo NH 60281    		 Naval Historical Center
    Shawmut 166k Jim Kurrasch, Battleship Iowa, Pacific Battleship Center
    Shawmut 167k
    Oglala 310k 6 October 1929
    Boston Navy Yard
    In dry dock
    Courtesy of Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection    		 Boston Public Library
    Oglala 412k
    Oglala 338k c. November 1929
    Boston Navy Yard
    Courtesy of Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection
    Shawmut 106k c. Early 1930s
    Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii     		David Wright
    Photo added 17 March 2021
    Shawmut 230k c. August 1940
    National Archives photo 80-G-279320    		 Tracy White
    Oglala 70k Alongside the Pearl Harbor Supply Depot, 17 September 1941
    National Archives photo 19-N-25593 from the Bureau of Ships Collection    		 Naval Historical Center
    Oglala 68k Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. Aerial view, looking west, with the supply depot in upper center, 13 October 1941. Part of the Submarine Base is at lower left; the Navy Yard is in the upper left; and Ford Island is in the top right. USS Holland is at left, at the Submarine Base. Alongside her are submarines Sturgeon (SS-187), Spearfish (SS-190), Saury (SS-189), Seal (SS-183) and Sargo (SS-188). USS Niagara (PG-52) is alongside the wharf, ahead of Holland. Ships docked at the supply depot, upper center, are Oglala and the S.S. Maui. Among the ships at the piers in the extreme upper left are USS Indianapolis (CA-35), USS San Francisco (CA-38) and USS Antares (AG-10). The two battleships moored by Ford Island, in upper right, are (left) USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and (right) USS Arizona (BB-39)
    National Archives photo 80-G-451131
    Avocet 335k 7 December 1941
    Position of Oglala and other ships at Pearl Harbor
    Map courtesy of National Geographic Book Division    		 Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory)
    Shawmut 178k
    MINE LAYER LOST AT PEARL HARBOR

    The Oglala a 4,200-ton minelayer, was one of the ships destroyed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, Navy Secretary Frank Knox revealed today. Once a passenger vessel on the Fall River Line, the Oglala was converted into a minelayer during the World War.
    Associated Press Wirephoto 15 December 1941

    		 Original photo: Robert Hurst
    Replacement photo: Tommy Trampp
    Second replacement photo: Jim Kurrasch, Battleship Iowa, Pacific Battleship Center
    Oglala 105k At the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, following completion of salvage and initial repairs, circa December 1942. Oglala left Pearl Harbor for the west coast 23 December of that year
    U.S. Navy photo NH 61896    		 Naval Historical Center
    USS Oglala (ARG 1)
    Oglala 69k Seen here as rebuilt (ARG-1)
    U.S. Navy photo
    Oglala 78k Oglala (ARG-1) in Southwestern Pacific area, circa 1944. She is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 6d
    U.S. Navy photo NH 97422    		 Naval Historical Center
    Oglala 24k Hyperwar U.S. Navy in World War II
    Oglala 66k Oglala tending to six LCI's in Leyte Gulf in May 1945. Probably taken from LCI(L)-227
    Photo from the estate of Frank S. Ford    		 Brian Miller
    Oglala
    Oglala 381k 27 September 1959
    The Depot Ship for the Suisun Reserve Fleet
    Photo from the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum    		 Darryl Baker
    Oglala 267k View on deck, looking aft from the bow, on ex-USS Oglala (ARG-1), just before scrapping commenced, at Richmond, California, 15 October 1965. Note effects of time and weather on this "Mothballed" ship
    U.S. Navy photo NH 44581    		 Naval History and Heritage Command
    Oglala 112k ex-Oglala (ARG 1) being scrapped at the Joffe Brothers Shipbreaking Yard, Richmond, CA, 3 December 1965
    U.S. Navy photo NH 44582 by LT J. R. Shackleton, USNR    		 Naval Historical Center
    Commanding Officers
    01CAPT Wat Tyler Cluverius, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 1896
    Awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal (1918) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		7 December 1917 - 4 February 1919
    02CDR Damon Earhart Cummings, USN - USNA Class of 1907
    Received a Navy Commendation (1917), Awarded the Navy Cross (1918) and the Legion of Merit (1947)- Retired as Captain    		4 February 1919 - May 1919
    03CAPT George Washington Steele, Jr., USNMay 1919 - 1920
    04CAPT Alfred Wilkinson Johnson, USN - USNA Class of 1899
    Awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal (1917) and the Legion of Merit (1945) - Retired as Vice Admiral    		1 October 1920 - 2 April 1921
    05LCDR Archibald Hugh Douglas, USN - USNA Class of 190823 February 1922
    06CAPT William Daniel Leahy, USN - USNA Class of 1897
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1918) and three Navy Distinguished Service Medals - Served as Chief of Staff to President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1942 - 1945)
    Attained the rank of Fleet Admiral    		2 April 1921 - 28 June 1923
    07CAPT John Wills Greenslade, USN - USNA Class of 189928 June 1923 - 1 June 1925
    08CAPT Harry Lerch Brinser, USN - USNA Class of 1899
    Retired as Rear Admiral    		1 June 1925 - 2 May 1927
    09CDR William Satterlee Pye, USN - USNA Class of 1901
    Awarded the Navy Cross (World War I) - Retired as Vice Admiral    		2 May 1927 - May 1928
    10CAPT Donald Cameron Bingham, USNMay 1928 - 5 December 1928
    11CAPT George Tilford Pettengill, USN - Retired as Rear Admiral5 December 1928 - 5 June 1930
    12CDR Paul Earnest Speicher, USN5 June 1930 - 15 June 1932
    13CAPT Joseph Vance Ogan, USN - USNA Class of 190515 November 1930
    14CDR William Thomas Mallison, USN15 June 1932 - 12 September 1934
    15CDR Francis E. Cogswell, USN - USNA Class of 190812 September 1934 - 1936
    16CDR Roy Campbell Smith, Jr., USN15 June 1936 - 21 May 1937
    17LT Francis Alan Ford, USN21 May 1937
    18CDR John Walter McClaran, USN - USNA Class of 1911
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1917) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		19 June 1937
    19CDR James George Atkins, USN - Retired as Rear Admiral20 June 1939
    20CDR Edmond Pryor Speight, USN - USNA Class of 19201 October 1941 - 31 December 1941
    21CDR Roland Ernest Krause, USN31 December 1941 - 10 February 1942
    22CDR John Ford Warris, USN10 February 1942 - 3 July 1942
    23LCDR Henry K. Bradford, USNR3 July 1942 - 28 February 1943
    24LCDR Alfred D. Nelson, USNR5 May 1945 - 11 July 1946
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Bill Gonyo
    View the Oglala (CM 4) Salvage Operation Photos
    View the Oglala (CM-4)
    DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway website
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Civilian Identification Numbered Ships (ID) Photo Index Back to the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Minelayer (CM) Photo Index Back to the Auxiliary Ship Photo Index Back to the Internal Combustion Engine Repair Ship (ARG) Photo Index
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