USS Ortolan (AM-45)

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The first USS Ortolan (AM-45/ASR-5) was a Lapwing-class minesweeper in the United States Navy that later became a submarine rescue ship. She was named after the ortolan, a European bunting, and built by the Staten Island Shipbuilding Company in New York City. Laid down on July 9, 1918, she was launched January 30, 1919, and commissioned September 17, 1919 as Minesweeper No. 45. She was redesignated AM-45 in 1920 and ASR-5 in 1929.

Career overview
- Early service: Ortolan served with the Pacific Fleet, operating along the West Coast, Alaska, and the Caribbean. She tended submarines out of San Pedro, Los Angeles, and conducted salvage and miscellaneous support duties, including helping after the Honda Point disaster.
- 1920s–1930s: She continued West Coast tender duties and undertook occasional fleet operations and cruises along the Pacific coast from Panama to Oregon.
- Submarine rescue role: In 1929 she became ASR-5, focusing on submarine rescue and salvage work throughout the 1930s, with occasional assignments to Pearl Harbor and the California area.
- Notable recoveries: In 1939 she helped in the recovery of the wrecked submarine USS Squalus. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Ortolan aided in the salvage work at Pearl Harbor and related operations, including work on the cruiser Oglala.

World War II
- 1942–1943: Ortolan received updated sound gear and armament (two 3-inch/50 caliber guns and two 20 mm guns) and joined the war effort across the Pacific. She arrived at Espiritu Santo to help salvage supplies from the sunken transport President Coolidge, then assisted damaged cruisers at Tulagi. She conducted extensive salvage work and supported submarines, gathering intelligence from sunken enemy vessels.
- Submarine salvage and support: Ortolan recovered and towed sunken submarines, including a two-man midget submarine and the larger I-1, and she collected documents that were sent to Pearl Harbor. She continued salvage and repair work in the Solomon Islands and New Hebrides into 1944.
- 1944–1946: She returned to the United States for escort and torpedo-recovery duties with submarines off California, while training divers and preparing for further operations. In 1946 she served in the Western Pacific, including Qingdao, China, performing diving operations with the 7th Fleet before returning to the United States.

Fate
- Ortolan was decommissioned on March 18, 1947, struck from the Navy List on June 10, 1947, and sold on August 20, 1947 to Bay Cities Transportation Co.
- Honors: She earned one battle star for World War II service.

Specifications (class and major features)
- Class and type: Lapwing-class minesweeper, later a submarine rescue vessel (ASR-5)
- Displacement: about 1,009 long tons
- Length: 187 ft 10 in; Beam: 35 ft 6 in; Draft: 10 ft 4 in
- Propulsion: Harlan and Hollingsworth vertical triple expansion steam engine, single shaft
- Speed: about 14 knots
- Complement: around 72
- Armament: two 3"/50 caliber guns and two 20 mm guns