View source for USS Mirth (AM-265)

{{redirect|Mirth}}
{|{{Infobox Ship Begin}}
{{Infobox Ship Image
|Ship image=
|Ship caption=
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Ship country={{nowrap|United States}}
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=USS ''Mirth'' (AM-265)
|Ship builder= [[American Ship Building Company]]
|Ship laid down= 31 July 1943 
|Ship launched= 24 December 1943
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. B. E. Gathercoal
|Ship commissioned= 12 August 1944 
|Ship decommissioned= 20 May 1945
|Ship fate=Transferred to [[Soviet Union]], 21 May 1945
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship reclassified=MSF-265, 7 February 1955
|Ship struck=
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Ship country={{nowrap|Soviet Union}}
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Soviet Union|naval}}
|Ship name=''T-275'' 
|Ship acquired= 21 May 1945
|Ship commissioned= 
|Ship refit=converted to [[naval trawler]], 1948
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship renamed=''Musson'', 1948
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship struck=1964
|Ship fate=unknown
}}
{{Infobox Ship Characteristics
|Ship class={{sclass|Admirable|minesweeper|1|ship}}
|Ship displacement=650 tons 
|Ship length={{convert|184|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|33|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|9|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 × ALCO 539 [[diesel engine]]s, 1,710 shp (1.3 MW)<br>[[Farrel-Birmingham]] [[Gear|single reduction gear]]<br />2 shafts
|Ship speed={{convert|14.8|kn|km/h|1}}
|Ship complement=104 
|Ship armament=1 × [[3"/50 caliber gun]] DP<br />2 × twin [[Bofors 40 mm gun]]s<br />1 × [[Hedgehog (weapon)|Hedgehog]] anti-submarine mortar<br />2 × [[Depth charge]] tracks
}}
{{service record
|is_ship=yes
|partof=[[United States Fleet Forces Command|US Atlantic Fleet]] (1943-1945)
}}
|}
'''USS ''Mirth'' (AM-265)''' was an {{sclass|Admirable|minesweeper||ship}} 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 source]]s.

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 ==
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/m11/mirth.htm}}
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/02265.htm NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive - ''#Mirth'' (MSF 265) - ex-AM-265]

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{{Admirable class minesweeper|others}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirth (AM-265)}}
[[Category:Admirable class minesweepers]]
[[Category:Ships built in Ohio]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II minesweepers of the United States]]
[[Category:Admirable class minesweepers of the Soviet Navy]]
[[Category:World War II minesweepers of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Trawlers of the Soviet Navy]]
[[Category:Cold War patrol vessels of the Soviet Union]]

[[pl:USS Mirth (AM-265)]]