USS Liberator (AMc-87)
Encyclopedia
USS Liberator (AMc-87) was an Accentor-class coastal minesweeper
Coastal minesweeper
Coastal minesweeper is a term used by the United States Navy to indicate a minesweeper intended for coastal use as opposed to participating in fleet operations at sea....
acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
Liberator was laid down 5 May 1941 by F. L. Fulton Works, Antioch, California
Antioch, California
Antioch is a city in Contra Costa County, California. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area along the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, it is a suburb of San Francisco and Oakland. The city's population was 102,372 at the U.S...
; launched 6 September 1941; sponsored by Miss Pay Hill; and placed in service 22 February 1942, Lt. (jg.) James. W. Dawnes in command.
Assigned to the 13th Naval District, Liberator operated out of 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...
until 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...
in April 1944. She swept the Alaskan shipping lanes and returned to the 13th Naval District in September.
Reclassified IX-202 on 20 December 1944, Liberator was used as a general utility ship until she was placed out of service 3 May 1945.
She was turned over to War Shipping Administration
War Shipping Administration
The War Shipping Administration was a World War II emergency war agency of the US Government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the US needed for fighting the war....
(WSA) 2 July 1946 for disposal.