USS Cardinal (AM-6)
{{short description|Minesweeper of the United States Navy}}
{{other ships|USS Cardinal}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=USS Cardinal AM-6.jpg |Ship caption=Cardinal taking a liberty party into Balboa and Panama City, Panama Canal in 1925 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{USN flag|1923}} |Ship name=USS Cardinal |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Staten Island Shipbuilding Company., New York |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=29 March 1918 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=23 August 1918, as Minesweeper No.6 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified=AM-6, 17 July 1920 |Ship homeport= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honors= |Ship fate=Grounded on a reef and sank, 6 June 1923 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|Lapwing|minesweeper}} |Ship displacement={{convert|950|LT|t|abbr=on}} full |Ship length={{convert|187|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|35|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draft={{convert|9|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion= |Ship speed={{convert|14|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}} |Ship range= |Ship complement=78 |Ship armament=2 × 3"/50 caliber gun guns |Ship armor= |Ship notes= }} |
USS Cardinal (AM-6) was a {{sclass|Lapwing|minesweeper}} in the United States Navy. She was named after the cardinal bird.
Cardinal was launched 29 March 1918 by Staten Island Shipbuilding Co., New York; sponsored by Ms. I. Nelson; and commissioned on 23 August 1918 as Minesweeper No.6.
History
=East Coast operations=
Cardinal served in the 3rd Naval District, sweeping waters off New York and serving as a temporary lightship, until 3 August 1919, when she sailed to join the Pacific Fleet.
=Pacific Ocean deployment=
For the next three years, she sailed out of San Diego and San Diego, California, carrying supplies, provisions and passengers along the California coast, and towing lighters, targets, and disabled ships. Cardinal was redesignated as AM-6 on 17 July 1920.
From 8 February – 16 April 1923, Cardinal sailed to the Panama Canal to provide tug services during fleet battle practice. She returned to San Pedro to prepare for duty in Alaskan waters, and on 23 May sailed for Port Angeles, Washington, where she called from 30 May – 1 June.
=Fate=
While bound for Dutch Harbor on 6 June, she was grounded on a reef off the east coast of Chirikof Island, and heavy flooding began immediately. Some of her men were landed on the island, where they were later taken off by a United States Coast and Geodetic Survey ship. The rest were rescued from the battered Cardinal on 7 June by the oiler {{USS|Cuyama|AO-3|2}}, who also took off salvageable material and stores. The remaining hulk sank soon thereafter.
References
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/cardinal-i.html}}
External links
- {{navsource|11/02006|USS Cardinal (AM 6)}}
- [http://www.multied.com/Navy/Minelayer/Cardinal.html USS Cardinal AM-6]
- [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/mine/am6.htm From Dictionary of American Fighting Ships]
{{Lapwing class minesweeper}}
{{1923 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|Pacific Ocean}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardinal (AM-6)}}
Category:Lapwing-class minesweepers
Category:Ships built in Staten Island
Category:Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean