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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
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Photo # NH 84026:  USS Osprey underway, circa April 1941

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Osprey (AM-56), 1941-1944

USS Osprey, a 810-ton Auk class minesweeper, was built at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia. She was commissioned in mid-December 1940 and mainly performed coastal patrol and escort duties off the East Coast and in the Caribbean area during the next three years. Osprey crossed the Atlantic in November 1942 to participate in the landings at Port Lyautey, Morocco. She made a second trans-oceanic voyage in April 1944, this time headed for England to prepare for the invasion of France. On the evening of 5 June 1944, while sweeping a path across the English Channel, USS Osprey struck a mine and sank. She was the first U.S. Navy ship lost in the Normandy operation.

This page features all the views we have related to USS Osprey (AM-56).


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 84026

USS Osprey
(AM-56)

Underway, circa April 1941, probably while running trials.
Note that her bow numbers have been freshly painted out.

Photograph was received from the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1972.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 73KB; 740 x 605 pixels

 
Photo #: 19-N-23991

USS Osprey
(AM-56)

Off the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, 19 April 1941.

Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 605 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 19-N-23989

USS Osprey
(AM-56)

Off the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, 19 April 1941.

Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 605 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 19-N-23990

USS Osprey
(AM-56)

Off the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, 19 April 1941.

Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 600 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 


In addition to the views referenced above, the National Archives appears to hold other photographs of USS Osprey (AM-56). The following listing describes some of these images:

The images listed below are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".


  • Photo #: 80-G-46302
    USS Osprey (AM-56) underway, circa 1942-1944. Photo was received by the Naval Photo Science Laboratory on 30 August 1944.
    Starboard bow surface view.

  • Photo #: 80-G-180192
    USS Osprey (AM-56) in harbor, circa 1942-1944. Photo was received by the Naval Photo Science Laboratory on 12 December 1944.
    Port broadside surface view.

  • Photo #: 80-G-39852
    USS Osprey (AM-56) underway in the vicinity of Hampton Roads, Virginia, 2 April 1943. Photographed from an aircraft based as Naval Air Station Norfolk, Virginia.
    Port bow aerial view.

  • Photo #: 80-G-39853
    As 80-G-39852, but aerial view taken from directly astern.

  • Photo #: 80-G-39854
    As 80-G-39852, but port broadside aerial view.

  • Photo #: 80-G-39855
    As 80-G-39852, but port quarter (somewhat toward the broadside) aerial view.

  • Photo #: 80-G-39856
    As 80-G-39852, but port quarter (somewhat toward the stern) aerial view.

    Note: In all of the views cited in this box, Osprey is painted in what appears to be Camouflage Measure 22, a horizontal two-tone scheme.


    Reproductions of these images should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center.

    The images listed above are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".


  • If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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    Page made 7 February 2004