I know a while ago I said I was doing O'Higgins, but this wonderful world of Shipbucket offers too many distractions.
The Lapwing-class minesweepers, sometimes called the Bird class, were a World War One era design that became useful in many other roles, including seaplane tender, survey ship, tug, salvage ship and submarine rescue ship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapwing-class_minesweeper
Today I have two of these, and I'm looking forward to making a few more.
If you feel inclined to depict one of these wonderful little ships yourself, you're of course welcome too.
This is AVOCET in her final form in 1944.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Avocet_(AVP-4)
She wears my interpretation of Measure 14. I've found no evidence that she actually used this scheme, but with the help of others more knowledgeable than me determined that this was at least an educated guess.
The NavSource picture caption reads "Avocet in Elliott Bay, Seattle, Washington, on 1 March 1944. Her single 3"/50 gun is mounted in the original large tub that previously held two of these weapons".
![[ img ]](https://i.imgur.com/UvFMqdU.png)
The next one is PIONEER, ex OSPREY, ex Minesweeper No. 29, in 1922, as transformed into a survey ship for the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USC%26GS_Pioneer_(1918)
She wears Buff on White, again as interpreted by me. She had a long career around Alaskan waters together with DISCOVERER and GUIDE and survived to serve through World War Two and wasn't sold for scrapping until 1952.
![[ img ]](https://i.imgur.com/SKoqmPU.png)
As usual, your feedback and any help in improving these is greatly appreciated.
![[ img ]](https://i.imgur.com/G04qLm0.png)
