USS Kingfisher (AM-25/AT-135/ATO-135) was an Lapwing-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.

Departing Bremerton, Washington, 17 June, Kingfisher steamed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she arrived on 8 August for duty as a minesweeper off Cape May, New Jersey.

Assigned to the North Sea Detachment at Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, she swept up mines of the Northern Barrage until 1 October when she sailed for the United States.

Over the next 19 years fleet maneuvers and supply, towing, and minesweeping operations sent her to the East Coast, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Panama Canal Zone, and Hawaii.

Returning to Samoa on 12 April, she was reclassified AT-135 on 1 June; she then sailed to Wallis Island on 28 July for a month of plane guard and rescue duty.

Though subjected to intermittent enemy bombing attacks, Kingfisher towed anti-submarine nets and laid telephone cables in Betio Harbor before departing 27 December for Funafuti.