USS Widgeon (AM-22/ASR-1) 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.

Following the conclusion of the operation, Widgeon headed home – via Brest, France; Ponta Delgada, Azores; and Hamilton, Bermuda – and arrived at New York on 19 November 1919.

Selected for conversion to a salvage vessel for duty on the Pacific coast, the minesweeper was decommissioned at Charleston, South Carolina on 15 April 1922.

In a departmental letter of 21 November 1923, the Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair specified that Widgeon's equipment be utilized to determine "their exact capabilities in salvage work."

In late October 1925, she collided with the submarine USS R-8; R-8 suffered the loss of her periscopes, the destruction of her bridge, and damage to her radio antenna supports.

After the enemy planes left, Widgeon set course for Ford Island to begin salvage operations on the overturned USS Oklahoma.

Her work on Nevada earned the ship a commendation from Commander, Battle Force, and her divers conducted numerous dives into the darkened and treacherous interiors of the sunken battleships.

Arriving at San Diego on 18 September, she operated off the West Coast as a torpedo recovery and submarine rescue ship into the spring of 1944, when she was relieved by USS Ortolan.