USS Auk (AM-38) was an Lapwing-class minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy after World War I for the task of removing mines that had been placed during the war. The first ship to be named Auk by the Navy, Minesweeper No. 38 was laid down on 20 June 1918 at New York City by the Todd Shipyard Corp.; launched on 28 September 1918; sponsored by Miss Nan McArthur Beattie daughter of a Todd Shipyard foremen, and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 31 January 1919, Lt. Gregory Cullen in command.