USS Kingfisher ( AM - 25 ) USS " Kingfisher " ( AM - 25 / AT - 135 / ATO - 135 ) was an acquired by the U . S . Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing . " Kingfisher " was launched 30 March 1918 by Puget Sound Naval Shipyard , Puget Sound , Washington ; sponsored by Miss Nancy Griswold ; and commissioned 27 May 1918 , Lt . ( j . g . ) C . L . Greene in command . Post - World War I mine clearance . Departing Bremerton , Washington , 17 June , " Kingfisher " steamed to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , where she arrived on 8 August for duty as a minesweeper off Cape May , New Jersey . On 5 April 1919 she departed Boston , Massachusetts , for the North Sea , arriving at Inverness , Scotland on 20 April . Assigned to the North Sea Detachment at Kirkwall , Orkney Islands , she swept up mines of the Northern Barrage until 1 October when she sailed for the United States . Steaming via France , Portugal , and the Azores , she reached New York on 19 November . Pacific Ocean operations . Assigned to the Train Force , Pacific Fleet , " Kingfisher " departed Hampton Roads , Virginia , 9 August 1920 for the West Coast . Arriving San Diego , California , 3 October , she began duty as a fleet tug and minesweeper . Over the next 19 years fleet maneuvers and supply , towing , and minesweeping operations sent her to the East Coast , Puerto Rico , Cuba , the Panama Canal Zone , and Hawaii . During the summers of 1933 , 1934 , and 1935 she supplied naval ships and bases in Alaskan waters for the Aleutian Islands Survey Expedition . Departing San Diego , California , 4 October 1939 , she sailed to Pearl Harbor for duty with the Base Force , Hawaiian Detachment . Arriving 19 October , she towed target rafts and conducted gunnery and minesweeping exercises until sailing for Samoa on 26 October 1941 . " Kingfisher " reached Tutuila on 5 November and was on station duty on 7 December when hearing of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . With Lt . Comdr . C . B . Schiano in command . " Kingfisher " began defense patrol and mine laying operations off Samoa . World War II Pacific operations . On 19 February 1942 she departed Tutuila for similar duty in the Fijis and arrived Viti Levu on 23 February . Returning to Samoa on 12 April , she was reclassified AT - 135 on 1 June ; she then sailed to Wallis Island on 28 July for a month of plane guard and rescue duty . With a lighter in tow she departed Suva , Fiji , 12 September for Noumea , New Caledonia . Arriving 18 September , she served under the command of the Port Director until she departed for Hawaii on 8 October . Arriving Pearl Harbor on 30 October , " Kingfisher " served as a tug and torpedo recovery ship until 23 September when she sailed for the Ellice Islands . She reached Funafuti on 5 October and undertook towing duty between the Ellice and Phoenix Islands . On 8 December she sailed for the Gilbert Islands , arriving Tarawa Atoll on 13 December . Though subjected to intermittent enemy bombing attacks , " Kingfisher " towed anti - submarine nets and laid telephone cables in Betio Harbor before departing 27 December for Funafuti . From 30 December to 15 April she continued towing , station ship , and harbor operations in the Ellice , Gilbert , and Marshall Islands ; then she departed Kwajalein 16 April for Pearl Harbor , arriving 29 April . Reclassified ATO - 135 on 15 May , " Kingfisher " departed 19 September for further towing operations in the South $ 3 . Towing runs sent her to Palmyra , Ellice , Solomon , Admiralty , and Marshall Islands before she returned to Pearl Harbor on 14 November . Return to stateside . On 18 November she sailed for the U . S . West Coast , arriving San Diego , California , 29 November . She returned to Pearl Harbor on 29 January 1945 and resumed tug and target towing services . On 21 April she assisted in salvage operations of grounded merchantman . While towing a gunnery target on 4 May , she rescued the pilot of an Army P - 47 that had splashed while on a training flight . End - of - war decommissioning . " Kingfisher " sailed for San Francisco , California , 30 October , arriving 9 November . Remaining in the San Francisco Bay area , she decommissioned 6 February 1946 and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet . Transferred to the Maritime Commission 3 June 1947 , she was sold the same day to M . E . Baker at Suisun Bay , California . " Kingfisher " received one battle star for World War II service .