USS Mirth (AM-265)
| Career (United States) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Mirth (AM-265) |
| Builder: | American Ship Building Company |
| Laid down: | 31 July 1943 |
| Launched: | 24 December 1943 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. B. E. Gathercoal |
| Commissioned: | 12 August 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 20 May 1945 |
| Fate: | Transferred to Soviet Union, 21 May 1945 |
| Reclassified: | MSF-265, 7 February 1955 |
| Career (Soviet Union) |  |
| Name: | T-275 |
| Acquired: | 21 May 1945 |
| Refit: | converted to naval trawler, 1948 |
| Renamed: | Musson, 1948 |
| Struck: | 1964 |
| Fate: | unknown |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Admirable-class minesweeper |
| Displacement: | 650 tons |
| Length: | 184 ft 6 in (56.24 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draft: | 9 ft 9 in (2.97 m) |
| Propulsion: |
2 × ALCO 539 diesel engines, 1,710 shp (1.3 MW) Farrel-Birmingham single reduction gear 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 14.8 knots (27.4 km/h) |
| Complement: | 104 |
| Armament: |
1 × 3"/50 caliber gun DP 2 × twin Bofors 40 mm guns 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar 2 × Depth charge tracks |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: | US Atlantic Fleet (1943-1945) |
USS Mirth (AM-265) was an Admirable-class minesweeper built for the United States Navy during World War II. In 1945, she was transferred to the Soviet Navy under Lend-Lease as T-274. The Soviets converted her into a naval trawler in 1948 and renamed her Musson. She was stricken in 1964, never having been returned to U.S. custody. Because of the Cold War, the U.S. Navy was unaware of this fate and the vessel remained on the American Naval Vessel Register until she was struck on 1 January 1983.
Career
Mirth was laid down 31 July 1943 by American Shipbuilding Co., Lorain, Ohio; launched 24 December 1943; sponsored by Mrs. B. E. Gathercoal; and commissioned 12 August 1944, Lt. M. A. Rusteen, USNR, in command. After shakedown in Chesapeake Bay, Mirth, a unit of MinDiv 37, got underway for brief duty with the Naval Operating Base, Bermuda, 29 November 1944. During December she operated from St. George's Bay, sweeping the channels, conducting antisubmarine patrols, thus ensuring safe passage into the western terminus of the southern convoy routes, and escorting single vessels to mid-ocean join-ups with convoys en route.
She returned to Virginia at the end of the month and continued on to New York 3 January 1945. She remained in the New York area throughout January. She departed 8 February for the Panama Canal and further routing to Cold Bay, Alaska. Arriving at the northern port 3 April, Mirth conducted coastal exercises and trained sailors of the Soviet Navy until 21 May.
She was decommissioned and transferred under the terms of Lend-Lease as T-275. The Soviets converted T-274 into a naval trawler in 1948 and renamed her Musson. She was stricken in 1964, never having been return to U.S. Navy custody. Her ultimate fate is unreported in secondary sources.
Unaware of the ship's fate, the U.S. Navy reclassified her as MSF-264 on 7 February 1955, and she remained on the American Naval Vessel Register until her name was stricken on 1 January 1983.
References
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Missing redirects
- Ship infoboxes without an image
- Articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
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- Admirable class minesweepers
- Ships built in Ohio
- 1943 ships
- World War II minesweepers of the United States
- Admirable class minesweepers of the Soviet Navy
- World War II minesweepers of the Soviet Union
- Trawlers of the Soviet Navy
- Cold War patrol vessels of the Soviet Union
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