USS Goshawk (AM-79) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

USS Goshawk (AM-79), was a built in 1919 as the steel-hulled fishing trawler by the Foundation (Marine) Co., Savannah, Georgia

Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...

, for Mr. W. F. Henningsen, Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

.

The ship was acquired by the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

on 3 September 1940, and began conversion to a Coastal Minesweeper, AMc-4 at the Winslow Marine Co.

Winslow Marine Railway and Shipbuilding Company

Winslow Marine Railway and Shipbuilding Company was a shipyard that operated from 1903 until 1959 on Bainbridge Island, Washington.The shipyard was built as an expansion of Hall Bros. Marine Railway & Shipbuilding Company of Port Blakely, Washington, on near the village of Madrone, later renamed...

, Winslow, Washington

Winslow, Washington

Winslow is the name of the downtown area of the city of Bainbridge Island, Washington, and is the original name of the city. It encompasses the area around the main street, Winslow Way, and is made up of approximately overlooking Eagle Harbor....

. Renamed Goshawk on 16 October 1940, and reclassified as a Minesweeper, AM-79, on 25 November 1940, she was commissioned USS Goshawk (AM 79) on 3 March 1941. Conversion to a minesweeper was completed on 20 March 1941.

U.S. Navy career

After shakedown

Shakedown (testing)

A shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to...

, Goshawk took up minesweeping duties in Puget Sound

Puget Sound

Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...

and the Strait of Juan de Fuca

Strait of Juan de Fuca

The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about long that is the Salish Sea outlet to the Pacific Ocean...

, operating out of Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

. She sailed for Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

on 6 October 1941 and swept the channels between Sitka, Ketchikan, Adak

Adak Island

Adak Island is an island near the western extent of the Andreanof Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Alaska's southernmost town, Adak, is located on the island...

, Seward

Seward

-Family name:* Bronwyn Seward , San Joaquin League Female athlete of the year * Madelyn Seward , Warriors CIF Basketball all league forward* Adam Seward , National Football League player...

, and Kodiak Island

Kodiak Island

Kodiak Island is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second largest island in the United States and the 80th largest island in the world, with an...

until 30 March 1942, when she returned to Seattle for extensive refitting.

Goshawk resumed duty on 18 August in the Seattle and Puget Sound area and in late 1943 returned to Alaska

Alaska

as a combination minesweeper

Minesweeper (ship)

A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...

and small cargo vessel. Her classification was officially changed to Unclassified Miscellaneous Auxiliary, IX-195, on 10 October 1944. Goshawk returned to Seattle on 9 June 1945 and decommissioned there on 1 August, but continued to perform in an "in service" status, transporting condemned ammunition

Ammunition

Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...

for the 13th Naval District.

Goshawk was decommissioned on 1 August 1945 at Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

, and placed in service; transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal on 7 May 1946. Struck from the Naval Register on 3 January 1946, the ship was sold to Alvin T. Davies of Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...

, and renamed . Fate unknown.

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