USS Hornbill (AMc-13)
USS Hornbill (AMc-13) was a coastal minesweeper of the United States Navy, named after the hornbill.
| History | |
|---|---|
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| Name | USS Hornbill |
| Builder | Martinolich Repair Basin, Tacoma, Washington |
| Launched | 1938, as J. A. Martinolich |
| Commissioned | 7 December 1940 |
| Stricken | 24 July 1942 |
| Fate | Sank after collision, 30 June 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Coastal minesweeper |
| Displacement | 195 long tons (198 t) |
| Length | 83 ft 2 in (25.35 m) |
| Beam | 20 ft 1 in (6.12 m) |
| Draft | 5 ft (1.5 m) |
| Depth of hold | 10 ft (3.0 m) |
| Speed | 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 11 |
| Armament | 1 × .30 cal (7.62 mm) machine gun |
The ship was launched as the fishing boat J. A. Martinolich in 1938 by the Martinolich Repair Basin, Tacoma, Washington. She was taken over by the Navy, and commissioned on 7 December 1940.
West Coast assignment
Hornbill was assigned to the mine force in the 12th Naval District. She engaged in coastal sweeping of the main ship channel for magnetic and acoustic type mines. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, her service became more valuable with the Japanese threat to U.S. West Coast sea traffic.
Collision and sinking
On the morning of 30 June 1942 Esther Johnson, a 208 ft 4 in (63.50 m), 1,104 GRT[1] steam lumber schooner on passage from Coos Bay, Oregon, collided with Hornbill in San Francisco Bay. Approximately thirty minutes after the collision the minesweeper sank. The crew was saved and a small amount of equipment was safely removed to the lumber schooner. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 24 July 1942.
References
- Lloyds (1943). "Lloyd's Register" (PDF). Lloyd's Register (through PlimsollShipData). Retrieved 24 August 2014.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- "USS Hornbill (AMc-13)". Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945. Retrieved 28 May 2007.
External links
- Photo gallery of USS Hornbill (AMc-13) at NavSource Naval History
- Casualties: U.S. Navy and Coast Guard Vessels, Sunk or Damaged Beyond Repair during World War II, 7 December 1941-1 October 1945 Archived 2 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945
- Mine Warfare Vessels
