USS Strength (AM-309) was a metal-hulled Admirable -class minesweeper built for the U.S. Navy during World War II . She received training in the United States before being sent directly to the Pacific Ocean to clear minefields so that Allied forces could proceed to beaches held by forces of the Empire of Japan . While performing this dangerous task, she was also attacked by Japanese planes and narrowly avoided being torpedoed . For her courageous actions in the war zone, she was awarded three battle stars .
15-401: She was laid down on 4 October 1943 by Associated Shipbuilders , Seattle, Washington ; launched on 28 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. H. W. McCurdy; and commissioned on 30 September 1944. Strength completed fitting out at Seattle, Washington, sailed with Strategy on 20 October for San Pedro, California , and held her shakedown in the harbor of Los Angeles, California . After training at
30-470: A combination of optical character recognition (OCR) and hand transcription. The NHHC is slowly updating its online DANFS to correct errors and take into account the gap in time between the print publication and the present date. NHHC prioritizes updates as follows: ships currently commissioned, ships commissioned after the original volume publication, ships decommissioned after original volume publication, and finally updates to older ships. The NHHC has begun
45-588: The United States and shipbuilding for the U.S. Navy during and after World War II . During the war it also operated under the name Associated Shipbuilders in a joint venture with the nearby Lake Union Dry Dock Company . In 1959 Lockheed purchased the shipyard and it became the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company . The Yard was permanently closed in 1987. During its 61-year history as Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company,
60-650: The public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships . Associated Shipbuilders Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company was a major shipbuilding and construction company, located in Seattle, Washington , on the southwestern corner of Harbor Island , an artificial island in Elliott Bay . The Bridge and Dredging Company created the island, completing its construction in 1909. It established itself in 1898 and engaged in construction projects around
75-484: The American fleet on 6 April. One chose the minesweeper for its target, but her gunners set it afire, and it splashed several hundred yards astern. Strength , operated off Okinawa until retiring to Ulithi for repairs. She reached the lagoon on 24 May and remained for a month awaiting parts. Once the repairs had been completed, the minesweeper was assigned antisubmarine patrol in the waters surrounding Ulithi. Strength
90-732: The Hazegray website undertook to transcribe the DANFS and make it available on the World Wide Web . The project goal is a direct transcription of the DANFS , with changes limited to correcting typographical errors and editorial notes for incorrect facts in the original. In 2008 the NHC was re-designated as the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC). It has developed an online version of DANFS (see External links section below) through
105-552: The Sound School in San Diego, California , the ship returned to San Pedro and got under-way on 3 December for Hawaii , arriving at Pearl Harbor on 10 December 1944. Strength was assigned to Mine Division 36 and began training with that unit at Lahaina Roads , Maui , rehearsing for the forthcoming invasion of Iwo Jima . On 22 January 1945, Strength got underway for Ulithi with Task Group 51, LST Flotilla One in
120-491: The assault the next day. On 26 March, a partially surfaced midget submarine was sighted at 1118 hours. Four torpedoes were fired at Strength . Two passed underneath her, and two sped by astern. She opened fire with her secondary batteries, but no damage was ascertained. She then assisted in clearing the approaches to the beaches off Okinawa for the impending assault on that island which began on 1 April. The Japanese launched their heaviest air attack by suicide planes against
135-547: The firm completed many major construction projects. Denton Record Chronicle: October 4, 1924 - p. 4 Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships ( DANFS ) is the official reference work for the basic facts about ships used by the United States Navy . When the writing project was developed the parameters for this series were designed to cover only commissioned US Navy ships with assigned names. If
150-511: The screen for Tractor Group Able. The ships remained there from 3 to 5 February before steaming for the Marianas where final staging for the assault on Iwo Jima was held. Strength was detached from the screen to rejoin the other minesweepers of her division and they departed for the Volcanoes on the 13th Strength arrived off Iwo Jima on 16 February and began sweeping operations to clear
165-493: The ship was not assigned a name it was not included in the histories written for the series. In addition to the ship entries, DANFS and the online links have been expanded to include appendices on small craft, histories of Confederate Navy ships, and various essays related to naval ships. Foreword and introduction passages for many editions were written by big names from naval command history from Arleigh Albert Burke to Elmo Russell Zumwalt, Jr. and others. DANFS
SECTION 10
#1732779547122180-583: The way for the invasion fleet which arrived three days later. She continued sweeping operations and antisubmarine patrols until the end of the month when she steamed to Saipan . Her division sailed for the Carolines and arrived at Ulithi the next day. Strength and her sister ships sortied for the Ryūkyūs on 19 March. They began sweeping mines from the Kerama Retto area on 25 March in preparation for
195-594: Was at Ulithi when the Japanese ceased hostilities. She sailed for Okinawa on 4 September and operated from 8 September until ordered to Sasebo where she rejoined her division. They swept known minefields between Kyūshū and Korea until early December. Strength was ordered to return to the United States, and she sailed from Sasebo on 10 December. She refueled at Ulithi, called at Pearl Harbor on 28 December 1945, and arrived at San Diego on 12 January 1946. The ship
210-476: Was published in print by the Naval Historical Center (NHC) as bound hardcover volumes, ordered by ship name, from Volume I (A–B) in 1959 to Volume VIII (W–Z) in 1981. Several volumes subsequently went out of print. In 1991 a revised Volume I Part A , covering only ship names beginning with A, was released. Work continues on revisions of the remaining volumes. Volunteers at
225-667: Was routed onward to the East Coast for final disposition. Strength arrived at Galveston, Texas , on 10 February and began a pre-inactivation overhaul. She moved to Orange, Texas , on 16 May and was assigned to the U.S. 16th Fleet . The ship was placed out of commission in reserve, on 19 July 1946. On 7 February 1955, Strength was reclassified MSF-309. Strength was struck from the Navy List on 1 April 1967. Strength received three battle stars for World War II service. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from
#121878