BOBOLINK ATO 131

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Lapwing Class Minesweeper Keel Laid October 29 1917 - Launched June 15 1918 USS BOBOLINK Minesweeper No. 20 Commissioned January 28 1919 USS BOBOLINK AM-20 Designated (AM) July 17 1920 USS BOBOLINK AT-131 Reclassified Fleet Tug (AT) June 1 1942 USS BOBOLINK ATO-131 Redesignated Fleet Tug (Old) (ATO) May 15 1944 Decommissioned February 22 1946 Transferred to Maritime Commission for disposal Sold October 5 1946 Fate unknown

 

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. USS Bobolink AM-20 Covers Page 1    (1930-1942)
2. USS Bobolink AT-131 Covers Page 1    (1942-1945)
3. USS Bobolink ATO-131 Page 1    (1945-1946)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Locy Type 3 "NAVY / DAY"

1934-10-27

AM-20. Blue strike, Navy Day 1934, cachet by George Whetstone

 

Locy Type 3r (A-BBT) "LABOR DAY / SAN DIEGO"

1938-09-05

AM-20. Labor Day. Cachet by Hux, Sponsored by Frederick Horton
Cachet should read "Aboard" instead of "Abroad"

 

Locy Type 3s

1930-03-07

AM-20

 

Locy Type 3z (A-TTT)

1942-05-20

Note: This was mailed just as BOBOLINK was beginning her conversion as an ocean-going tug. Ens. Grant R. Olsen (1918-1972) was on board during Pearl Harbor attack, and was one of several who signed log entries that day.

 

Locy Type 5ks (C)

1931-01-12

AM-20

 

Locy Type 9 (C) USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-39a

1936-11-26

AM-20. Cachet by Walter G. Crosby

 

Locy Type P USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-39

1935-07-04

AM-20. Independence Day 1935

 

Other Information

USS BOBOLINK earned the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 Battle Star and the WWII Victory Medal during her Naval career.

USS Bobolink was at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.

NAMESAKE - Named for a small New World finch type blackbird.

The ships sponsor was Miss Elsie Jean Willis.

Two ships of the US Navy have borne the name BOBOLINK - USS Bobolink AM-20 and USS Bobolink AMS-2

 

---

 

If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.

 

---

Copyright 2026 Naval Cover Museum