USS Merganser (AM-135)

History
Name	Annapolis
Owner	General Sea Foods Corp., Boston, Massachusetts
Builder	Bethlehem Steel, Quincy, Massachusetts
Launched	1937
Fate	Requisitioned by the US Navy, 3 January 1942
Name	USS Ocean
Acquired	3 January 1942
Commissioned	23 May 1942
Decommissioned	1 May 1944
Renamed	Merganser, 18 January 1942
Stricken	16 September 1944
Fate	Sold to former owner, renamed Ocean
General characteristics as Minesweeper
Class and type	Hawk-class minesweeper
Displacement	500 long tons (510 t)
Length	133 ft 7 in (40.72 m)
Beam	26 ft 1 in (7.95 m)
Draft	12 ft 8 in (3.86 m)
Speed	10 knots (12 mph; 19 km/h)
Armament	2 × 6-pounder guns 2 × .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns 2 × depth charge projectors

The first USS Merganser (AM-135) was a minesweeper in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for the duck, merganser.

Originally the commercial trawler Annapolis, Merganser was built in 1937 by the Bethlehem Steel Corp., Quincy, Massachusetts; acquired by the U.S. Navy as Ocean through Maritime Commission requisition purchase from the General Sea Foods Corp., Boston, Massachusetts, 3 January 1942; renamed Merganser 18 January 1942; converted by Bethlehem Steel Atlantic Works, East Boston, Massachusetts; and commissioned 23 May 1942, Lt. Arthur S. Johnson, USNR, in command.

World War II East Coast Assignment[]

Assigned to the 1st Naval District, Merganser operated from the Woods Hole Section Base, patrolling the waters off New England, until February 1944.

Deactivation[]

She then proceeded to Boston, Massachusetts, for inactivation, decommissioning there 1 May. She was struck from the Naval Register 16 September, and on the 29th transferred to the Maritime Commission. She was subsequently sold to her former owner and renamed Ocean.

References[]

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