Editing Q-ship (section)

===United States===
[[File:USS Atik AK-101 0975160801.jpg|right|thumb|USS ''Atik'' (AK-101)]]
[[File:USS Big Horn.jpg|right|thumb|USS ''Big Horn'' (AO-45)]]
[[File:USS Irene Forsyte (IX-93).jpg|right|thumb|USS ''Irene Forsyte'' (IX-93)]]
[[File:Anacapa flaps.jpg|upright|thumb|right|Hinged flaps aft of the anchor hid 3-inch guns aboard {{USS|Anacapa|AG-49}}]]
[[File:uss anacapa crew.jpg|right|thumb|Yeomen and supply clerks of USS ''Anacapa'' exhibiting non-regulation attire typical of U.S. sleeper ship duty to imitate merchant vessels]]
By 12 January 1942, the British Admiralty's intelligence community had noted a "heavy concentration" of U-boats off the "North American seaboard from New York to Cape Race" and passed along this fact to the [[United States Navy]]. That day, {{GS|U-123|1940|2}} under ''Kapitänleutnant'' Reinhard Hardegen, torpedoed and sank the British steamship ''Cyclops'', inaugurating ''[[Second Happy Time|Paukenschlag]]'' (literally, "a strike on the kettledrum" and sometimes referred to in English as "Operation Drumbeat"). [[U-boat]] commanders found peacetime conditions prevailing along the coast: towns and cities were not blacked-out and navigational buoys remained lit; shipping followed normal routines and "carried the normal lights."  ''Paukenschlag'' had caught the United States unprepared.

Losses mounted rapidly. On January 20, 1942, Commander-in-Chief, [[United States Fleet]] (Cominch) [[Earnest J. King]], sent a coded dispatch to Commander, Eastern Sea Frontier (CESF), requesting immediate consideration of the manning and fitting-out of "Queen" ships to be operated as an antisubmarine measure.  The result was "Project LQ."

Five vessels were acquired and converted secretly at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine:<ref>New Hampshire v. Maine, 426 U.S. 363 (1977)</ref>

* the Boston beam trawler MS ''Wave'', which briefly became the auxiliary [[minesweeper]] USS ''Eagle'' (AM-132) before becoming {{USS|Captor|PYc-40}},
* SS ''Evelyn'' and ''Carolyn'', identical cargo vessels that became {{USS|Asterion|AK-100}} and {{USS|Atik|AK-101}} respectively (these hull numbers were actually duplicates of the USS ''Lynx'' and the USS ''Lyra'' respectively),
* the tanker SS ''Gulf Dawn'', which became {{USS|Big Horn|AO-45}}, and
* the schooner ''Irene Myrtle'', which became {{USS|Irene Forsyte|IX-93}}.

The careers of all five ships were almost entirely unsuccessful and very short, with USS ''Atik'' sunk on its first patrol with all hands on 26 March 1942.<ref name="Beyer"/> [[COMINCH]] strongly criticized the program and all Q-ships patrols ended in 1943.<ref name=Langenberg></ref>

American Q-ships also operated in the Pacific Ocean.  One was {{USS|Anacapa|AG-49}} formerly the lumber transport ''Coos Bay'' which was converted to Q-ship duty as project "Love William". ''Anacapa'' was not successful in engaging any enemy submarines, although she is believed to have damaged two friendly subs with depth charges when they were improperly operating in her vicinity.  ''Anacapa'' was also withdrawn from Q-ship duty in 1943 and served out the remainder of World War II as an armed transport in the South Pacific and Aleutian Islands.

The US Navy did not use a consistent [[hull classification symbol]] for its Q-ships (AG, AK, AO, IX and PYc were all used). This and the unprecedented use of duplicate hull numbers for ''Asterion'' and ''Atik'' reflect the great secrecy attached to these ships.