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NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive

USCGC Ilex (WAGL-222)
ex
 USLHT Ilex (1921 - 1939)
USAMP Brig. Gen. Edmund Kirby (1920 - 1921)

US Coast Guard International Radio Call Sign:
November - Romeo - Whiskey - Bravo
 NRWB
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
Top Row - American Defense Service Medal - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Speedwell Class Mine Planter:
  • Built in 1918-19 for the U.S. Army Quartermaster Department at Fabricated Ship Building, Milwaukee, WI.
  • Launched in 1919
  • Assigned to the Middle Atlantic Coast Artillery District, 4 May 1920
  • Accepted for service by the Quartermaster Department, commissioned USAMP Brig. General Edmund Kirby, 22 June 1920, 1st Lt. Arthur F. Gilmore, USA in command
  • Named in honor of Brig. Gen. Edmund Kirby, U.S. Volunteers, who was mortally wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863
  • Assigned to the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps, Mine Planter Service
  • Departed Milwaukee, 5 September 1920 and arrived at Fort Totten, N.Y. on 11 October 1920
  • Caught fire, 12 October 1920, and suffered extensive damage to her superstructure. Typically docked at the 125th Street dock, New York City, N.Y.
  • Further assigned to the Coast Defenses of Portland, 9 November 1920, but the Kirby never actually served at that location
  • Transferred, 26 January 1921, to the Army Supply Base, Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Transferred, 2 August 1921 to Fort Wood, N.Y.
  • Decommissioned, 6 October 1921
  • Transferred, 6 October 1921 to the United States Lighthouse Service (USLHS), Department of Commerce renamed USLHT Ilex
  • Absorbed into the US Coast Guard, 1 July 1939, commissioned USCGC Ilex (WAGL-222)
  • Decommissioned by the US Coast Guard, 14 October 1947
  • Sold, 14 October 1947 to W.B. Fountain, Norfolk, VA.
  • Final Disposition, burnt at Newfoundland, Canada in 1948
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,130 t.
    Length 172'6"
    Beam 32'
    Draft 11'6"
    Speed unknown
    Armament unknown
    Range 1,692 mi.
    Complement
    Pre-war (33)
    1942 (44)
    Propulsion
    2 Page & Burton water-tube boilers
    2 Allis Chalmers compound, inverted, reciprocating steam engines
    2 propellers, 1,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    USAMP-Brig. Gen. Edmund Kirby
    Brig. General Edmund Kirby 28k
    Namesake

    Edmund Kirby was a U.S. Army officer who was killed during the Battle of Chancellorsville. He was born in Brownville, New York to Major Edmund Kirby, an army paymaster, and Eliza Brown. He was a second cousin of Confederate general Edmund Kirby Smith, and his mother was a daughter of Major General Jacob Brown, who had served as the Commanding General of the United States Army.     		Wikipedia
    Brig. General Edmund Kirby 107k USAMP Brig. Gen. Edmund Kirby under way, date and location unknown US National Archives photo, a US Army Signal Corps photo
    USLHT Ilex
    Brig. General Edmund Kirby
    30111503    		 106k Ex-USAMP Brig. Gen. Edmund Kirby in U.S. Lighthouse Service as USLHT Ilex moored pierside, location unknown, circa after October 1921.
    US Lighthouse Service J. Candace Clifford Lighthouse Research Catalog     		John Spivey
    The history for USAMP Brig. Gen. Edmund Kirby is from US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941 Vol. 2
    Commanding Officers
    011st Lt. Arthur F. Gilmore, USA22 June 1920 - 29 July 1920
    02Capt. Geoffrey Marshall, USA 29 July 1920 – April 1921
    03Capt. Ernest C. Bomar, USA April 1921 – 6 October 1921
    US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941 Vol. 2
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 3 March 2023