USS Condor (AMc-14)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Condor.

USS Condor (AMc-14) was a coastal minesweeper of the United States Navy.^{[note 1]} The ship was constructed as the wooden-hulled purse seiner New Example at Tacoma, Washington in 1937. Acquired by the U.S. Navy on 28 October 1940, converted into a coastal minesweeper and placed in service on 18 April 1941.^[1]

USS Condor (AMc-14) Photographed in 1941, probably off San Diego, California
History
United States
Name	USS Condor
Namesake	Condor
Launched	1937, as New Example
Acquired	28 October 1940
In service	18 April 1941[1]
Out of service	17 January 1946[1]
Stricken	7 February 1946[1]
Fate	Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 24 July 1946
General characteristics
Type	Coastal minesweeper
Displacement	185 long tons (188 t)[1]
Length	85 ft 11 in (26.19 m)[1]
Beam	24 ft 9 in (7.54 m)[1]
Draft	9 ft 4 in (2.84 m)
Depth of hold	10 ft (3.0 m)
Propulsion	1 × 200 bhp (149 kW) Enterprise DMW-6 diesel engine, one shaft
Speed	9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)[1]
Complement	17
Armament	2 × .30 cal (7.62 mm) machine gun[1]

U.S. Navy career

The Coast Guard manned Condor departed for Hawaii 14 May 1941 arriving on 28 May for service in Hawaiian waters.^[1][2] Condor was in Pearl Harbor on the day the attack occurred and is believed to have made the first enemy contact at 0350 and at 0357 notified USS Ward by visual signals of a periscope sighting whereupon Ward began searching for the contact.^[2][3] At about 0637 Ward sighted a periscope apparently tailing USS Antares whereupon she attacked the target, thus firing the first shots of the Pacific War.^[3] They later found out that they spotted the periscope of a Japanese midget submarine attempting to get into the harbor. Condor spent the war in or near Hawaii with the U.S. Navy.

Condor was placed out of service at San Diego on 17 January 1946, struck from the List of District Craft in February 1946 and transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal on 24 July 1946.^[1] Her fate is unknown.

Footnotes

1. Naval records of the time refer to Condor as "the U.S.C.G. Condor" instead of USS Condor. Condor was USCG crewed under Navy command during wartime and the vessel was "in service" rather than commissioned for naval service.