USS Admirable (AM-136)

USS "Admirable" (AM-136) was the lead ship of her class of minesweeper in the United States Navy. Her hull was laid down on 8 April 1942 at Tampa, Florida, by the Tampa Shipbuilding Company. She was launched on 18 October 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Ann Pillsbury Fehr, daughter of Commander Horace W. Pillsbury; and commissioned on 20 April 1943, with Lieutenant Commander A. M. White, USNR, in command.

The minesweeper departed Tampa on 23 April and conducted shakedown training in the Gulf of Mexico before heading for Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 23 June. "Admirable" operated out of the Little Creek amphibious base for five months of training in antisubmarine warfare (ASW), mine-laying, and minesweeping techniques. After upkeep and outfitting, she departed Norfolk on 28 November in company with . "Admirable" resumed escort duty and continued that work into March 1945.

On 14 March, the minesweeper's commanding officer was designated officer in tactical command of eight ships and all aircraft participating in a combined air-surface attack on a fictitious submarine in Kuluk Bay. The minesweeper then returned to her escort duties until May, when she stopped in Dutch Harbor for repairs preparatory to transfer under the Lend-Lease program. Because of the continual beating of the heavy seas, 12 feet of the forward end of each of her bilge keels as well as her sonar gear were replaced.

"T-521"

Admiral B. D. Popov of the Soviet Navy inspected the ship on 30 May 1945 and accepted her for transfer to the Soviet Union. On 18 June, a Russian crew reported on board to train for one month in gunnery, engineering, and minesweeping procedures. "Admirable" was decommissioned and transferred to the Soviet Navy on 18 July. She served in the Soviet Navy as "T-521". The Soviets never returned her to the United States Navy. Reclassified as a Fleet Minesweeper, MSF-136, on 7 February 1955, she was carried on the United States Navy list until her name was struck on 1 January 1983.

References

External links

* [http://history.navy.mil/danfs/a3/admirable.htm history.navy.mil: USS "Admirable"]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/02136.htm navsource.org: USS "Admirable"]
* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/mine/am136.htm hazegray.org: USS "Admirable"]