USS Warbler (AM-53) explained
USS Warbler (AM-53) (Minesweeper No. 53) was a laid down on 24 April 1919 by the
Philadelphia Navy Yard; launched on 30 July 1919; sponsored by Miss Alice Kempff, the daughter of Capt. C. S. Kempff, the Captain of the Yard; and commissioned on 22 December 1919. After brief service with the Train of the
Atlantic Fleet,
Warbler was decommissioned on 16 June 1920 and simultaneously transferred, on loan, to the
United States Shipping Board. The ship operated with a civilian crew under the aegis of Merritt, Chapman, and Scott, a New York-based salvage firm. On 13 September 1941, the Navy reclassified
Warbler a salvage vessel and designated her ARS-11
World War II operations
During World War II, she continued to operate with a civilian crew under a contract with the Naval Salvage Service. She was based at the Merritt, Chapman, and Scott salvage depot at Key West, Florida, and worked primarily in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, towing disabled ships; assisting stranded or grounded vessels; escorting coastwise convoys; and conducting salvage operations.
End-of-War deactivation
After the war ended, the U.S. Navy designated Warbler for disposal on 29 March 1946 and declared her surplus on 13 January 1947. She was struck from the Navy list on 10 June 1947.
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