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{{short description|Minesweeper of the United States Navy}}
{{other ships|USS Sandpiper}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= [[File:USS Sandpiper.jpg|300px|The ship in 1922 with aircraft]]
|Ship caption=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name= USS ''Sandpiper''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Philadelphia Navy Yard]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]
|Ship laid down=15 November 1918
|Ship launched=28 April 1919
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 9 October 1919, as Minesweeper No.51
|Ship decommissioned=10 December 1945
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=17 April 1946
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=*AM-51, 17 February 1920
*AVP-9, 22 January 1936
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Transferred to [[Maritime Commission]], 12 October 1946
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|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}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed= {{convert|14|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=78
|Ship armament=*2 × [[3"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] guns
*2 × machine guns
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Sandpiper'' (AM-51)''' was a {{sclass|Lapwing|minesweeper}}. Laid down on 15 November 1918 at the [[Philadelphia Navy Yard]], [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], and launched on 28 April 1919, ''USS Sandpiper'' (Minesweeper No.51) was commissioned on 9 October 1919, redesignated AM-51 on 17 February 1920, and reclassified as a Small [[Seaplane Tender]], AVP-9 on 22 January 1936.<ref>{{navsource|11/02051|USS Sandpiper (Minesweeper No. 51/AM-51/AVP 9)}}</ref>
== USS Sandpiper mission ==
Although built as a [[Minesweeper (ship)|minesweeper]], ''Sandpiper'' performed [[aircraft tender]] duties throughout her career. Her assignments moved her from Train, Scouting Fleet; to Aircraft Squadrons, Scouting Fleet; to Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet; to various individual squadrons and finally to patrol units and training commands.
Her duties — initially restricted to guarding plane flights, fueling planes, and towing seaplane barges — were gradually expanded. Transportation of aviation spares and personnel came with extended operations and new bases. Salvage and repair duties were added to her search and rescue work and were retained until ships designed for the purpose were built in the 1930s. The [[Minesweeper (ship)|minesweeper]]/[[aircraft tender]], however, was designated ''AM-51'' in July 1920 and retained that hull number for over 15 years. On 22 January 1936, she was officially reclassified as a small [[seaplane tender]] and redesignated '''AVP-9'''.
== North Atlantic operations ==
Based at [[New York City]] and then at [[Norfolk, Virginia]], through the 1920s and into the 1930s, ''Sandpiper'' operated with the fleet, off the mid-[[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] and [[New England]] coasts during the summer and fall and in the [[Caribbean]] and [[Gulf of Mexico]] during the winter. Each spring, she returned north. While deployed for winter maneuvers, she participated in annual fleet problems, including problems I (February 1923) and IX (January 1929) in which the use of [[aircraft]] allowed the attacking force to break through, and render obsolete, the defenses of the [[Panama Canal Zone]].
== Pacific Ocean operations ==
In January 1932, ''Sandpiper'' was reassigned to the Pacific and, for several years after her arrival on 20 February at [[San Diego, California]], her new base, she provided services for [[seaplanes]] along the [[U.S. West Coast|west coast]]. During the summer of 1935, she served with the Navy's [[Aleutian Islands|Aleutian]] Survey Expedition as it concluded extensive surveys of the [[Andreanof Islands|Andreanof]] and [[Rat Islands|Rat Island]] groups and used aircraft equipped with multi-lens [[cameras]] to expand [[cartographic]] data on the chain and to improve methods of aerial [[photogrammetry]].
== Central American operations ==
Toward the end of the decade, ''Sandpiper'' shifted to the [[Panama Canal Zone]]. From [[Coco Solo]], her duties took her along the [[Central America|Central]] and [[South America]]n coasts for survey expeditions and exercises and into the [[Caribbean]] for temporary assignments to various patrol units stationed in [[Cuba]], [[Puerto Rico]], and the [[Virgin Islands]]. During 1940 and 1941, she was attached to the Caribbean bases, particularly [[Trinidad]], more frequently and for extended periods. With the entry of the United States into [[World War II]], her previously limited escort duties were increased.
== World War II North Atlantic operations ==
''Sandpiper'' remained in the Caribbean into the spring of 1942. She then underwent repairs and overhaul at [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]], and [[Charleston, South Carolina]]. In October, she moved north to [[Boston, Massachusetts]], whence she continued on to [[Greenland]], arriving at [[Kangat Bay]] on 11 November. For the next four months, she conducted escort runs between Kangat Bay and [[Narsarsuaq]]; carried out search and rescue missions; and performed local defense duties.
== Damaged in ship collision ==
In March 1943, she returned to Boston, Massachusetts; then, at the end of the month, she proceeded to [[Casco Bay]] where she conducted exercises for students at the [[Anti-submarine]] Training School. In June, she again moved north to [[Argentia, Newfoundland]], whence she escorted and carried [[aviation fuel]] for {{USS|Ranger|CV-4|3}}. On the 23rd, however, while operating to the south of [[Cape Farewell, Greenland|Cape Farewell]], she was rammed on the port quarter by a British merchant ship which tore a hole in her hull and seriously damaged her steering gear. Emergency repairs enabled her to reach [[Argentia, Newfoundland|Argentia]], whence she was routed, via [[Sydney, Nova Scotia|Sydney]] and [[Halifax Harbour|Halifax]], to Boston, Massachusetts, to complete the work.
== World War II South Atlantic operations ==
On 28 August, ''Sandpiper'' cleared Boston harbor and sailed south to Brazil for duty with Fleet Air Wing 16. She arrived at [[Recife, Brazil]], on 30 September; and, for the next nine months, served as a support ship carrying supplies to various bases along the Brazilian coast. In June 1944, she returned to the United States; underwent overhaul at [[Norfolk, Virginia]]; and, in September, got underway for [[Key West, Florida]], where she remained, attached to the Training Detachment, Fleet Air Wing 5, until after the end of the war in Europe.
==End-of-war activities==
In late June 1945, ''Sandpiper'' returned to [[Norfolk, Virginia]], whence, after brief duty as a target-towing ship, she was ordered to [[Pearl Harbor]]. She arrived in [[Hawaii]] on 17 August, two days after the end of hostilities in the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]]. A month later, she was ordered back to the [[U.S. East Coast|east coast]] and steamed, via [[San Diego, California]], and the [[Panama Canal]], to [[Boston, Massachusetts]], arriving there at the end of October.
==Decommissioning==
''Sandpiper'' was decommissioned on 10 December 1945 at Boston, Massachusetts, struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 17 April 1946, and transferred to the [[Maritime Commission]] on 12 October 1946 for disposal. Fate unknown.
==
{{commons category|USS Sandpiper (AM-51)}}
{{reflist}}
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s5/sandpiper-i.htm}}
{{Lapwing class minesweeper}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandpiper}}
[[Category:Lapwing
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:World War II seaplane tenders of the United States]]
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