USS Widgeon ( AM - 22 ) USS " Widgeon " ( AM - 22 / ASR - 1 ) was an acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing . Later converted to a submarine rescue ship . " Widgeon " was named by the Navy after the widgeon , a fresh water duck . " Widgeon " ( Minesweeper No . 22 ) was laid down on 8 October 1917 at Chester , Pennsylvania , by the Sun Shipbuilding Co . ; launched on 5 May 1918 ; sponsored by Ms . Mildred Moyer ; and commissioned on 27 July 1918 , Lieutenant Commander John A . Monroe in command . World War I mine clearance . " Widgeon " served with Minesweeping Group 2 of the Atlantic Fleet during the last months of World War I . After the armistice , she was assigned to the North Sea Minesweeping Detachment and departed Boston , Massachusetts , on 28 June 1919 , bound for Scotland . Arriving at Kirkwall on 10 July , " Widgeon " operated in the North Sea between Scotland and Norway , sweeping up mines sown by the Allies the year before to deter the German High Seas Fleet . These duties – often difficult and dangerous – kept the minesweeper occupied through the summer of 1919 . Following the conclusion of the operation , " Widgeon " headed home – via Brest , France ; Ponta Delgada , Azores ; and Hamilton , Bermuda — and arrived at New York on 19 November 1919 . Stateside activity . " Widgeon " operated off the east coast through 1921 . During this period , on 17 July 1920 , she was designated AM - 22 . Selected for conversion to a salvage vessel for duty on the Pacific coast , the minesweeper was decommissioned at Charleston , South Carolina on 15 April 1922 . She underwent conversion at the Charleston Navy Yard and was recommissioned there on 5 March 1923 . Despite her new equipment , the ship retained her minesweeper designation . In a departmental letter of 21 November 1923 , the Navy ' s Bureau of Construction and Repair specified that " Widgeon " s equipment be utilized to determine " their exact capabilities in salvage work . " Furthermore , " " Widgeon " should be considered available for salvage or rescue work and the Commander , Submarine Divisions , Pacific , is authorized to send . . . " Widgeon " to render such service when needed . " Pacific Theatre operations . Operating out of Pearl Harbor , Territory of Hawaii , " Widgeon " served as the primary submarine rescue vessel for the Hawaiian area . During this time , she proved her versatility by recovering practice mines or torpedo es and served as a training ship for fleet divers . In late October 1925 , she collided with the submarine ; " R - 8 " suffered the loss of her periscope s , the destruction of her bridge , and damage to her radio antenna supports . In 1926 , " Widgeon " was extensively altered to increase her capabilities as a submarine rescue vessel ( ASR ) . She finally was reclassified ASR - 1 on 22 January 1936 , over a decade after she began operating as such . On 16 July 1929 the Widgeon came alongside of the uss Burns and replaced underwater by divers a damaged propeller . It is believed that this was the first instance of work of this kind was accomplished . " Widgeon " continued her routine operations out of Pearl Harbor into the late 1930s as the world crisis deepened in Europe and the Far East . " Widgeon " under attack at Pearl Harbor . On 7 December 1941 , the submarine rescue vessel lay alongside a berth at the submarine base at Pearl Harbor , when Japanese aircraft swept over the Pacific Fleet ' s base . When the raid was over later that morning , the Pacific Fleet ' s battleship s ceased to exist as a potential retaliatory force to threaten Japan ' s massive " southern operation " in the Far East . Despite keeping up a steady defensive fire with rifle s and machine guns during the attack , " Widgeon " s crewmen did not claim to down any of the attackers . After the enemy planes left , " Widgeon " set course for Ford Island to begin salvage operations on the overturned . When she reached Battleship Row , she found that burning oil spewing from the shattered tanks on was threatening the ships nested immediately ahead , and the torpedoed . Under orders from the Commander , Battle Force , " Widgeon " assisted and Garbage Lighter in fighting the fires . " Widgeon " subsequently took part in salvaging , , and " Oklahoma " . Her work on " Nevada " earned the ship a commendation from Commander , Battle Force , and her divers conducted many a foray into the darkened and treacherous interiors of the sunken battleships . When this work was well in hand and her service in that capacity was no longer required , " Widgeon " returned to her duties with the submarines of the Pacific Fleet . She towed targets for gunnery exercises and served as a target during torpedo - firing drills . She also recovered practice torpedoes at the conclusion of the day ' s training activities . Post - Pearl Harbor attack operations . " Widgeon " operated in this capacity from April 1942 - 7 September 1943 , when she got underway for the California coast . Arriving at San Diego on 18 September , the warship operated off the west coast as a torpedo recovery and submarine rescue ship into the spring of 1944 , when she was relieved by . In May , " Widgeon " returned to Pearl Harbor and resumed her operations as the Hawaiian - based submarine rescue vessel . She continued this duty through the end of the war in the Pacific and into November 1945 , after which time she completed another tour at San Diego . Supporting Bikini Atoll nuclear testing . In the summer of 1946 , " Widgeon " — as part of Task Unit 1 . 2 . 7 , the salvage unit of Joint Task Force 1 – supported " Operation Crossroads " , the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll . Decommissioning . Subsequently returning to the west coast , " Widgeon " was decommissioned on 5 February 1947 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 23 December . Soon thereafter , she was sold to the Basalt Rock Co . , of Napa , California , on 5 March 1948 and scrapped . Awards . " Widgeon " received one battle star for her World War II service .