USS Grackle (AM-73)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Grackle |
| Builder | Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine |
| Laid down | 6 June 1929 |
| Launched | 2 December 1929, as MV Notre Dame |
| Acquired | 16 September 1940 |
| Commissioned | 4 February 1941 |
| Decommissioned | 25 August 1944 |
| Renamed | Grackle, 14 August 1940 |
| Stricken | 16 September 1944 |
| Fate | Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal, 9 September 1946 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Minesweeper |
| Displacement | 755 long tons (767 t) |
| Length | 132 ft 4 in (40.34 m) |
| Beam | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Draft | 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 36 |
| Armament | 1 × 3"/23 caliber gun |
USS Grackle (AM-73) was a minesweeper in the service of the United States Navy during World War II.
Grackle was laid down on 6 June 1929 as MV Notre Dame by the Bath Iron Works Corp. of Bath, Maine, for F. J. O'Hara and Sons, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts. She was launched on 2 December 1929, delivered on 21 December 1929, and renamed Grackle on 14 August 1940. Acquired by the Navy on 16 September 1940, her conversion to a minesweeper began on 1 October 1940 at the Bethlehem Steel Co. of East Boston, Massachusetts. Grackle was commissioned on 4 February 1941, and her conversion completed on 15 March 1941.
World War II North Atlantic operations
[edit]Following shakedown out of Yorktown, Virginia, and Newport, Rhode Island, USS Grackle departed Portland, Maine on 25 September 1941 for service in Newfoundland as a unit of Minesweeper Division 25, Squadron 9 of the Atlantic Fleet. Reaching Argentia, Newfoundland on 2 October, Grackle conducted minesweeping patrols from that port until 15 January 1942, and following repairs at Boston, Massachusetts she returned to sweeping duties at Argentia until the spring of 1944.
Post-War deactivation
[edit]Grackle put in at Boston on 17 May 1944 and was decommissioned there on 25 August 1944. She was transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal on 9 September 1946 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 16 September 1944. Final fate unknown.
References
[edit]
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
[edit]- Photo gallery of USS Grackle at NavSource Naval History