USS Penetrate (AM-271)
| Career (United States) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Penetrate (AM-271) |
| Builder: | Gulf Shipbuilding Co. |
| Laid down: | 5 January 1943 |
| Launched: | 11 September 1943 |
| Sponsored by: | Miss Frances M. Moyer |
| Commissioned: | 31 March 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 21 May 1946 |
| Fate: | Transferred to Soviet Union, 22 May 1945 |
| Reclassified: | MSF-271, 7 February 1955 |
| Career (Soviet Union) |  |
| Name: | T-280 |
| Acquired: | 22 May 1945 |
| Refit: | converted to naval trawler, 1948 |
| Renamed: | Taifun, 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 (1944-1945) |
USS Penetrate (AM-271) 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-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. 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 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 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 European 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 sources.
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
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- "Penetrate". Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive. NavSource Online. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
- Ship infoboxes without an image
- Articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
- Pages with broken file links
- Admirable class minesweepers
- Ships built in Alabama
- 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
