View source for USS Penetrate (AM-271)

{|{{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 ''Penetrate'' (AM-271)
|Ship builder= Gulf Shipbuilding Co.
|Ship laid down= 5 January 1943 
|Ship launched= 11 September 1943
|Ship sponsor=Miss Frances M. Moyer
|Ship commissioned= 31 March 1944 
|Ship decommissioned= 21 May 1946
|Ship fate=Transferred to [[Soviet Union]], 22 May 1945
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship reclassified=MSF-271, 7 February 1955 
|Ship struck=
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Ship country={{nowrap|Soviet Union}}
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Soviet Union|naval}}
|Ship name=''T-280'' 
|Ship acquired= 22 May 1945
|Ship commissioned= 
|Ship refit=converted to [[naval trawler]], 1948
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship renamed=''Taifun'', 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]] (1944-1945)
}}
|}
'''USS ''Penetrate'' (AM-271)''' 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-280'''''. The Soviets converted her into a [[naval trawler]] in 1948 and renamed her ''Taifun''. 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==
''Penetrate'' was laid down by the [[Gulf Shipbuilding]]; Corp., [[Chickasaw, Alabama]], 5 January 1943; launched 11 September 1943; sponsored by Miss Frances M. Moyer, and commissioned 31 March 1944, Lt. M.&nbsp;S. Lazaron, Jr., in command.

On 14 April 1944 ''Penetrate'' stood down river to the [[Gulf of Mexico]] whence she sailed for the [[U.S. East Coast]] and [[Shakedown (testing)|shakedown]] in [[Chesapeake Bay]]. By late May she was undergoing training in [[Casco Bay]], and, on 1 June, she steamed north to [[Argentia, Newfoundland]]. where she was converted to a [[weather ship|weather patrol vessel]]. For the next six months she patrolled between [[Greenland]] and [[Canada]] to track and record changes in the polar maritime air masses affecting the [[Europe]]an battlefronts and the [[transatlantic]] air routes. In early January 1945, ''Penetrate''{{'}}s [[meteorological]] instruments were removed and minesweeping gear was reinstalled. On the 31st she headed south to [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], arriving 7 February for an abbreviated overhaul prior to transfer under [[Lend Lease]] to the [[Soviet Union]]. ''Penetrate'' sailed 27 February for the [[Panama Canal]] en route to the transfer point: [[Cold Bay, Alaska]]. She arrived 15 April and for the next month trained the [[Soviet]] crew.

The [[Soviet Navy]] assumed responsibility for the minesweeper following ''Penetrate''{{'}}s decommissioning and formal transfer on 21 May 1945. The Soviets converted ''T-280'' into a [[naval trawler]] in 1948 and renamed her ''Taifun''. 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-271'' 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/p4/penetrate.htm}}
*{{cite web | accessdate= 2008-02-18
 | url= http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/02271.htm
 | title= ''Penetrate''
 | work= Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive | publisher= NavSource Online }}

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{{Admirable class minesweeper|others}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penetrate (AM-271)}}
[[Category:Admirable class minesweepers]]
[[Category:Ships built in Alabama]]
[[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]]

[[Category:2Fix]]