USS Sandpiper ( AM - 51 ) USS " Sandpiper " ( AM - 51 ) was a . 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 . USS Sandpiper mission . Although built as a 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 / 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 and then at Norfolk , Virginia , through the 1920s and into the 1930s , " Sandpiper " operated with the fleet , off the mid - $ 3 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 west coast . During the summer of 1935 , she served with the Navy ' s Aleutian Survey Expedition as it concluded extensive surveys of the Andreanof and 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 and South American 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 . On the 23rd , however , while operating to the south of 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 , whence she was routed , via Sydney and 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 $ 3 . A month later , she was ordered back to the 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 .