USS Obstructor (ACM-7)

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Career
Name: USS Obstructor (ACM-7)
Builder: Marietta Manufacturing Company, Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Laid down: as USAMP 1st Lt. William G. Sylvester (MP-5) for the U.S. Army
Acquired: 4 January 1945
Commissioned: 1 April 1945
Decommissioned: 28 June 1946
Renamed: Obstructor, 19 January 1945
Struck: 19 July 1946
Fate: Transferred to the Coast Guard, 28 June 1946, commissioned 1 February 1947 as USCGC Heather (WABL / WLB-331)
Status: Decommissioned USCG 15 December 1967
Notes: Transferred to Seattle, 12 April 1968
General characteristics
Class and type: Chimo-class minelayer
Displacement: 880 long tons (894 t)
Length: 188 ft 2 in (57.35 m)
Beam: 37 ft (11 m)
Draft: 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
Speed: 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph)
Complement: 69
Armament: 1 × 40 mm gun

USS Obstructor (ACM-7) was a Chimo-class minelayer in the United States Navy during World War II.

Built by the Marietta Manufacturing Company, Point Pleasant, West Virginia, as a U.S. Army mine planter USAMP 1st Lt. William G. Sylvester (MP-5) was delivered December 1942[1] to the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps, Mine Planter Service. She was named for the first coast artillery officer killed (Hickam Field, Hawaii on Dec 7, 1941)[2] in action in WW II.

The ship was transferred to the Navy, 4 January 1945; renamed Obstructor, 19 January 1945; converted at the Charleston Navy Yard; and commissioned 1 April 1945, Lt. Sammie Smith in command.

U.S. Navy Service history

Pacific Theatre operations

Following shakedown in Chesapeake Bay, Obstructor, a minesweep gear and repair ship, loaded gear and other supplies at Norfolk, Virginia, and sailed 11 June 1945 for the Panama Canal. Transiting the canal on the 21st, she proceeded up the coast to San Diego, California. There at the end of the war, she sailed for the Far East 18 August. Steaming via the Marshalls and the Marianas, she arrived at Manila and reported for duty with MinRon 106, 8 October. On the 17th she got underway for Haiphong, arriving and joining task unit TU 74.4 on the 22nd. Assuming duties as flagship, MinRon 106 the same day, Obstructor served as minecraft tender for that task unit as it operated off Haiphong harbor, the island of Hainan and off Chinese ports during the next six months.

Decommissioning

In early May 1946, she sailed east en route back to the United States. Arriving at San Francisco, California, 15 June, she decommissioned and was transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard on 28 June and was struck from the Navy List 19 July 1946.

U.S. Coast Guard Service history

Transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard the ship was commissioned 1 February 1947 as Heather (WABL / WLB-331) and stationed at Mobile, Alabama until 5 December 1949. Heather was transferred and began operations out of San Pedro, California 6 December 1949 until decommissioning on 15 December 1967 and transfer to Seattle, Washington on 12 April 1968.[3]

References

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This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

See also

External links

Chimo · Planter · Barricade · Barbican · Bastion · Obstructor · Picket · Trapper

  1. ↑ http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/smallships/armyminecraft.htm | Shipbuilding History - U.S. Army Mine Craft - MP, L and M
  2. ↑ http://www.nps.gov/valr/historyculture/us-army.htm | National Park Service - World War II Valor in the Pacific - U.S. Army Casualties
  3. ↑ http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Heather_1947.pdf | USCG History - Heather (WABL / WLB-331)
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