View source for USS Tanager (AM-5)

{{short description|Minesweeper of the United States Navy}}
{{other ships|USS Tanager}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
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|Ship image= USS Tanager (AM-5).jpg
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1942}}
|Ship name=USS ''Tanager''
|Ship namesake=
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|Ship builder= [[Staten Island Shipbuilding Company]]
|Ship laid down=28 September 1917
|Ship launched=2 March 1918
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|Ship commissioned=28 June 1918, as Minesweeper No.5
|Ship decommissioned=
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|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=8 May 1942
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|Ship reclassified= AM-5, 17 July 1920 
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|Ship honours=1 [[battle star]] (World War II)
|Ship fate= Sunk by Bataan shore fire, 4 May 1942
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|Ship class= {{sclass|Lapwing|minesweeper}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|840|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|187|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|35|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|10|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship speed={{convert|14|kn|lk=in}}
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|Ship complement=85
|Ship armament=2 × [[3-inch/50-caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] guns
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'''USS ''Tanager'' (AM-5)''' was an {{sclass|Lapwing|minesweeper}} acquired by the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] for the task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.

''Tanager'' was named by the U.S. Navy after the [[tanager]], one of numerous American [[passerine]] birds.

''Tanager'' (Minesweeper No. 5) was laid down on 28 September 1917 at New York City, by the [[Staten Island Shipbuilding]] Co.; launched on 2 March 1918; sponsored by Mrs. G. H. Bates; and commissioned on 28 June 1918.

== World War I Atlantic operations ==
After operating locally out of Boston, Massachusetts through the late summer of 1918, ''Tanager'', in company with ''Western King'', departed [[New London, Connecticut]], on 26 September 1918, bound for the [[Azores]]. The minesweeper subsequently operated out of [[Ponta Delgada|Punta Delgada]] on local escort duties with the Azores detachment through the fall, before pushing on toward Portugal and reaching [[Lisbon]] on the day after Christmas 1918. Later in her tour in European waters, she delivered a case of [[wikt:serum|serum]] to {{USS|Georgia|BB-15|2}} (Battleship No. 15) which was trying to combat an outbreak of [[1918 flu pandemic|influenza]].

In the spring, ''Tanager'' was assigned to the mine-sweeping detachment established to clear the [[North Sea Mine Barrage]] between the shores of Scotland and Norway, and arrived at [[Kirkwall]], Scotland, on 7 May 1919. The barrage – which had been laid during [[World War I]] to prevent a sortie by the [[German High Seas Fleet]] and forays by German [[U-boat]]s – now prevented the resumption of the commercial shipping which had criss-crossed the [[North Sea]] before the war.

While sweeping Group 9, the third operation conducted by the mine force, ''Tanager'' suffered damage in heavy weather and was forced to put into Kirkwall for a week of repairs. Besides the hazards posed by the stormy North Sea, the mines provided their own particular brand of danger.

== Damaged by a near-miss mine ==
While sweeping Group 10 late in June 1919, ''Tanager'' fouled a mine in one of her "kites"; and it exploded close aboard, forcing the ship to limp to Kirkwall for repairs. The severity of her damage required a period in the [[Chatham Dockyard|Admiralty dock]] at [[Chatham, Kent|Chatham]].

By late summer, the barrage had been swept. In company with other vessels of her squadron, ''Tanager'' sailed for the United States on 1 October 1919 and – after stops at [[Brest, France|Brest]], France; [[Lisbon]]; and [[Hamilton, Bermuda]] – arrived at New York on 19 November 1919. For part of the voyage, from Lisbon to Hamilton, she towed [[submarine chaser]] {{USS|SC-272||2}}.

== Stateside repairs ==
Upon completion of permanent repairs at [[Charleston, South Carolina]], ''Tanager'' was assigned to the [[U.S. Pacific Fleet]] in December 1919. She was reclassified AM-5 on 17 July 1920.

== Pacific Ocean assignment ==
The [[minesweeper]] steamed to the [[Hawaiian Islands]] and operated out of [[Pearl Harbor]] from 1920 to 1941. Her services for the Fleet included target-towing, participation in mine-laying and minesweeping exercises, and transportation of men and mail. In addition, she took part in the [[Tanager Expedition]]s to [[Necker Island (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands)|Necker Island]] and [[Nihoa Island]] in the Hawaiian chain and operated briefly at [[Wake Island]] in the summer of 1923 during an [[ornithological]] survey. In August 1925, she served on a plane guard station for the [[Naval Aircraft Factory PN|PN]] flying boats' unsuccessful flight from the [[West Coast of the United States]] to Hawaii.

Her routine duties at Pearl Harbor were twice interrupted. In early 1928, she was assigned duty as station ship at [[Pago Pago]], Samoa; and, late in March, she unsuccessfully attempted to free {{SS|Steelmaker}}, aground on [[Mitchell Island]]. In 1930, ''Tanager'' operated between [[Mare Island]], California and San Diego, for a time, towing and assisting in the preparation of many decommissioned flush-deck, four-pipe [[destroyer]]s for inactive berthing at the Destroyer Base at the latter place.

== World War II Pacific Theatre operations ==
In early 1941, ''Tanager'' received a major overhaul which transformed her [[silhouette]]. Her heavy foremast and boom were removed; splinter-shielding was added around her guns and upper bridge; and a [[Anti-submarine weapon|depth-charge track]] was fitted astern. Thus outfitted, she lost excess topside weight and had better fields of fire for her [[anti-aircraft]] battery. Assigned to [[Mine Division]] 9, [[Asiatic Fleet]], ''Tanager'' sailed from Pearl Harbor on 11 May 1941, bound for the [[Asiatic Station]]. The minecraft proceeded via [[Guam]] to the [[Philippines]]. En route, she plane-guarded for two [[PBY Catalina|PBY]]'s being flown out as reinforcements for [[Admiral]] [[Thomas C. Hart]]'s air patrol forces.

Calling at Guam from 29 to 30 May 1941, ''Tanager'' arrived at [[Manila]] on 5 June 1941. She commenced local operations almost immediately and, for the next few months, made patrols off the [[Corregidor]] [[minefield]]s; towed targets for [[destroyer]] and [[submarine]] exercises; and conducted [[Minesweeper|minesweeping]] and [[minelaying]] duties. From October through December 1941, ''Tanager'' participated in the laying of an [[anti-submarine net]] across [[Mariveles, Bataan#Geography|Mariveles Bay]], [[Bataan]]  – a difficult operation accomplished in spite of the fact that there were no specialized net-laying craft in the [[Philippines]].

=== Japanese planes attack the fleet in the Philippines ===
On 7 December 1941, Japanese planes struck [[Pearl Harbor]] and plunged the United States into the [[Pacific War]]. On the next day, Japanese planes destroyed General [[Douglas MacArthur]]'s [[Far East Air Force (United States)|Far East Air Force]] on the ground on its Philippine fields and struck the [[Cavite Navy Yard]] on the 10th. ''Tanager'' lay alongside [[Machina Wharf]] when the high-level bombers came over. In the attack, the minesweeper managed to leave the area.

Others were not so fortunate. The minesweeper {{USS|Bittern|AM-36|2}} was wrecked; the submarine {{USS|Sealion|SS-195|2}} was sunk alongside a [[pier]]; and the destroyers {{USS|Peary|DD-226|2}} and {{USS|Pillsbury|DD-227|2}} were damaged. More importantly, [[Cavite]] was destroyed as an operating base for the [[Asiatic Fleet]].

With Cavite out of commission and Manila declared an [[open city]] on Christmas Day 1941, American and Filipino forces withdrew to Bataan and [[Corregidor]]. ''Tanager'' carried the equipment and staff of the Commandant, [[16th Naval District]], Rear Admiral [[Francis W. Rockwell (admiral)|Francis W. Rockwell]], to Corregidor during his withdrawal; and she subsequently operated out of Corregidor on inshore patrol duties.

=== Sunk by enemy shore fire ===
In ensuing months, ''Tanager'' and her dwindling number of sister ships and former China [[river gunboat]]s lived a furtive, hunted existence. ''Tanager'' served almost until the bitter end. On 4 May 1942, the day of the commencement of the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]], the minesweeper was hit by [[shore battery]] fire from Japanese guns emplaced on Bataan. Mortally hit, she sank off Corregidor that day.

== Awards ==
''Tanager'' was struck from the [[Navy Directory]] on 8 May 1942 and received one [[battle star]] for her service in the [[Philippine Islands|Philippine]] campaign in 1941 and 1942.

== References ==
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/tanager-i.html}}

== External links ==
* {{navsource|11/02005|USS Tanager (Minesweeper No.5/AM-5)}}

{{Lapwing class minesweeper}}
{{May 1942 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|Pacific Ocean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanager (AM-5)}}
[[Category:Lapwing-class minesweepers]]
[[Category:Ships built in Staten Island]]
[[Category:1918 ships]]
[[Category:World War I minesweepers of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II minesweepers of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Philippine Sea]]
[[Category:Tanager Expedition]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1942]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by coastal artillery]]