USS Bittern (AM-36)

History
United States
Name	USS Bittern
Builder	Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., Mobile, Alabama
Cost	$761,587 (hull and machinery)[1]
Launched	15 February 1919
Commissioned	28 May 1919, as Minesweeper No.36
Reclassified	AM-36, 17 July 1920
Fate	Scuttled in Manila Bay, 10 December 1941
General characteristics
Class and type	Lapwing-class minesweeper
Displacement	840 long tons (853 t)
Length	187 ft 10 in (57.25 m)
Beam	35 ft 6 in (10.82 m)
Draft	9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)
Speed	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement	72
Armament	2 × 3 in (76 mm) guns 2 × machine guns

USS Bittern (AM-36) was a Lapwing-class minesweeper in the United States Navy. She was named after the bittern, a bird of the heron family. The vessel was constructed by Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., in Mobile, Alabama, and launched on 15 February 1919 and commissioned on 28 May later that year. Initially operating in U.S. coastal waters, the vessel was reassigned to western Pacific operations in 1920, based in the Philippine Islands. Shortly after the U.S. entry into World War II, Bittern was scuttled to avoid capture after being severely damaged during a Japanese air raid on Cavite Navy Yard in December 1941.