USS Grackle (AMS-13)

	A YMS-1-class minesweeper
History
United States
Name	USS YMS-312
Builder	Henry B. Nevins, Inc.; City Island, New York;
Laid down	7 June 1943
Launched	9 November 1943
Sponsored by	Mrs. W. G. Kroepke
Completed	4 December 1943
Commissioned	6 December 1943
Renamed	USS Grackle (AMS-13), 18 February 1947
Namesake	the grackle bird
Reclassified	MSC(O)-13, 7 February 1955
Decommissioned	11 October 1957
Stricken	1 March 1963
Fate	Transferred to Brazil, 19 April 1963
Brazil
Name	Juruena (M14)
Acquired	19 April 1963
Fate	Unknown
General characteristics
Class and type	YMS-135 subclass of YMS-1-class minesweepers
Displacement	270 t.
Length	136 ft (41 m)
Beam	24 ft 6 in (7.47 m)
Draft	8 ft (2.4 m)
Propulsion	Two 1,000 shp diesel engines, two shafts
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h)
Complement	32
Armament	1 × 40 mm gun

USS Grackle (MSC(O)-13/AMS-13/YMS-312) was a YMS-1-class minesweeper of the YMS-135 subclass built for the United States Navy during World War II.

History

The second Grackle was laid down as YMS-312 on 7 June 1943 by Henry B. Nevins, Inc., City Island, Bronx;^[1] launched 9 November 1943 and sponsored by Mrs. W. G. Kroepke; completed 4 December 1943;^[1] and commissioned 6 December 1943.

YMS-312 put in at Key West, Florida, 4 February 1944 after shakedown and following sound training there steamed to Curaçao, arriving 17 February. Escort, minesweeping and patrol duties in Caribbean waters occupied her until she got underway 1 September 1944 for San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Hawaii.

Her duty in the Pacific terminated 9 April 1946 when YMS-312 steamed eastward through the Panama Canal for overhaul at Charleston, South Carolina. On 15 May the minesweeper arrived Norfolk, Virginia, for operations in the Chesapeake Bay until November 1947 when she shifted her base to Charleston, South Carolina. Operations out of this base included tours of service for the Naval Schools Mine Warfare at Yorktown, Virginia, and the U.S. Naval Mine Countermeasures Station at Panama City, Florida.

Periodically Grackle engaged in minesweeping operations off Massachusetts near Martha's Vineyard, completing this duty 27 June 1951 when she reported to the Mine Warfare School at Yorktown, Virginia, for duty as a school ship.

On 1 March 1952 she sailed for the Caribbean to join the Mine Force in combined fleet maneuvers off Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Virgin Islands, and returned to Yorktown, Virginia, near the end of March. Subsequent years were spent in alternate periods of operations that included school ship duties at Yorktown, amphibious exercises along the coast of North Carolina, and mine countermeasures operations along the Eastern seaboard.

Redesignated coastal minesweeper MSC(O)-13 in February 1955, Grackle was placed in service in reserve 16 September 1957 and was decommissioned on 11 October 1957 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The veteran minesweeper was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1963 and transferred to Brazil on 19 April 1963 as Jurvena (M 14).

Her ultimate fate is unknown.

References

1 2 3 4 Radigan, Joseph M. (2005). "Grackle (MSC(O)-13), ex-AMS-13, ex-YMS-312". NavSource Online. NavSource Naval History. Retrieved 27 December 2007.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

Photo gallery of Grackle at NavSource Naval History

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[navsrc-1] 1 2 3 4 Radigan, Joseph M. (2005). "Grackle (MSC(O)-13), ex-AMS-13, ex-YMS-312". NavSource Online. NavSource Naval History. Retrieved 27 December 2007.

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