USS Osprey (AM-29)

As USC&GS Pioneer
History
United States
Name	USS Osprey
Operator	United States Navy
Builder	Gas Engine & Power Co. and Charles L. Seabury, Morris Heights, New York
Laid down	14 November 1917
Launched	14 November 1918
Commissioned	7 January 1919, as Minesweeper No. 29
Decommissioned	12 December 1920
Reclassified	AM-29, 17 July 1920
Fate	Transferred to U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 7 April 1922
United States
Name	USC&GS Pioneer
Operator	U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
Acquired	7 April 1922
Fate	Transferred to U.S. Navy 1941
United States
Name	USS Crusader (ARS-2)
Operator	U.S. Navy
Acquired	1941
Recommissioned	17 September 1941
Decommissioned	13 February 1947
Fate	Sold for scrapping 1952
General characteristics
Class and type	Lapwing-class minesweeper
Displacement	950 long tons (965 t)
Length	187 ft 10 in (57.25 m)
Beam	35 ft 6 in (10.82 m)
Draft	9 ft 9 in (2.97 m)
Speed	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement	72
Armament	2 × 3 in (76 mm) caliber guns 2 × machine guns

USS Osprey (AM-29) was an Lapwing-class minesweeper commissioned by the United States Navy for service in World War I. She was responsible for removing mines from harbors, and, in her role as rescue and salvage ship, she was responsible for coming to the aid of stricken vessels. After service in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey as the survey ship USC&GS Pioneer, she returned to the U.S. Navy in 1941 as the salvage ship USS Crusader (ARS-2), serving as such through the end of World War II.

Osprey was laid down on 14 November 1917 by the Gas Engine and Power Company & Charles L. Seabury Company at Morris Heights, Bronx, New York. She was launched on 14 November 1918, sponsored by Mrs. J. J. Amory, and commissioned on 7 January 1919 as USS Osprey (Minesweeper No. 29).

After fitting out at New York City, Osprey departed Boston, Massachusetts, with five other ships on 6 April 1919 for Inverness, Scotland, arriving 20 April 1919 to join the North Sea Minesweeping Force. Basing operations at Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, she aided in sweeping the North Sea Mine Barrage during the summer of 1919, departing Kirkwall on 1 October 1919 for Devonport, England. She departed Brest, France, for Lisbon, Portugal, on 15 October 1919 with the submarine chaser USS SC-110 in tow. She departed Lisbon on 24 October 1919 for the United States, arriving at Staten Island, New York, on 17 November 1919. On 4 December 1919 she proceeded to the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, where she remained in ordinary — becoming USS Osprey (AM-29) when the U.S. Navy adopted its modern hull-number system on 17 July 1920 — until she was decommissioned 12 December 1920. She subsequently steamed to Boston.

The ship was transferred to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in the United States Department of Commerce on 7 April 1922, at which time she was renamed USC&GS Pioneer. She operated as a survey ship in the Coast and Geodetic Survey until 1941.

The ship was transferred back to the U.S. Navy and commissioned on 17 September 1941 as the salvage ship USS Crusader (ARS-2). She operated in the 15th Naval District, headquartered at Balboa, Panama Canal Zone, throughout World War II, which ended in August 1945.

After decommissioning, Crusader was transferred to the Maritime Commission on 13 February 1947. She was sold for scrapping in 1952.

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

• Photo gallery of USS Osprey at NavSource Naval History
• hazegray.org: USS Osprey