USS Teal (AM-23)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | USS Teal |
| Builder: | Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Chester, Pennsylvania |
| Laid down: | 8 October 1917 |
| Launched: | 25 May 1918 |
| Commissioned: | 20 August 1918, as Minesweeper No.23 |
| Decommissioned: | 23 November 1945 |
| Reclassified: |
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| Struck: | 5 December 1945 |
| Fate: | Sold, 19 January 1948 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Lapwing-class minesweeper |
| Displacement: | 840 long tons (853 t) |
| Length: | 187 ft 10 in (57.25 m) |
| Beam: | 35 ft 6 in (10.82 m) |
| Draft: | 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m) |
| Speed: | 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Complement: | 85 |
| Armament: | 2 × 3 in (76 mm) guns |
USS Teal (AM-23/AVP-5) was a Lapwing-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
Teal was named after the , any of several small, short-necked, river ducks common to Europe and America.
Teal (Minesweeper No. 23) was laid down on 8 October 1917 at Chester, Pennsylvania, by the Sun Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 25 May 1918; sponsored by Miss Agnes M. Haig; and commissioned on 20 August 1918 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Lt. (jg.) Frederick Meyer in command.
Through the end of World War I and into the spring of 1919, Teal served in the 4th Naval District patrolling off the shores of New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. On 20 April 1919, the minesweeper reported for duty with the North Sea Minesweeping Detachment. As a unit of Mine Division 2, she labored to clear the North Sea Mine Barrage and remained in European waters until the task had been completed late in the fall of 1919.
Upon her return to the United States toward the end of November, Teal was modified for service as an auxiliary aircraft tender. Although not officially designated a "minesweeper for duty with aircraft" until 30 April 1931, she nevertheless served in this capacity throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s. Operating out of Norfolk, Virginia, from the Caribbean in the south to Narragansett Bay in the north, Teal supported operations with the air squadrons of the Scouting Fleet. Frequently in company with USS Wright (AV-1) and Sandpiper (AM-51), and later with Lapwing (AM-1), she visited the Panama Canal Zone where she serviced the squadrons based at Coco Solo. Her normal schedule alternated winter maneuvers in the Caribbean-Gulf of Mexico area with summer training along the New England coast.
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