USS Finch (AM-9)

USS "Finch" (AM-9) was a "Lapwing"-class minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.

"Finch" was named for the finch.

"Finch" was launched 30 March 1918 by Standard Shipbuilding Co., New York, New York; sponsored by Mrs. F. G. Peabody; and commissioned 10 September 1918, Lieutenant J. C. Lindberg in command.

North Atlantic operations

After training and operations with a submarine bell, "Finch" sailed from New York 9 August 1919 for Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland. Here she based for 2 months of duty removing the vast number of mines laid in the North Sea during World War I. "Finch" returned to Charleston 29 November 1920, and on 3 January 1920 sailed for San Pedro, California, where from 1 March to 29 August she was in reduced commission.

Pacific Ocean operations

Modernized, she sailed from San Francisco 20 August 1921 for duty with the Asiatic Fleet, and for the next 20 years, served in the Philippines in the winter and out of the China base at Chefoo in the summer. Her duties were varied, and included towing and salvage work, as well as participation in the Yangtze River Patrol. She joined in fleet exercises, and as war tension heightened, played a part in protecting American citizens and interests in the Far East.

World War II operations

In 1941, she began work in intensive development exercises with submarine and mine groups in the Philippines, and as war came closer, spent December on patrol in the Taiwan Straits. According to an account given by Yeoman 3C A. Glenn Pratt, a crewmember aboard the "Finch", she was assigned, along with the USS "Heron", a sister vessel with a diving bell, to escort two US Navy river gunboats back to Manilla Harbor from their station in China since the Japanese had sunk one such vessel, the USS "Panay", in 1937. During the return leg of this mission, the vessels were temporarily surrounded by Japanese naval vessels headed toward the Philippines. The gunboats scouted the Japanese column, then pulled ahead to report the naval activity to Washington, while the "Finch" and "Heron" stayed behind, eventually being left by the Japanese as well. The two vessels returned to Manilla Bay on December 5, 1941.

As the Japanese began aerial bombardment of bases in the Philippines, the "Finch" continued her task of sweeping for mines to keep the channel into the harbor open for incoming shipping. After running out of fuel in March, she was anchored in shallow water and her crew taken to shore defense positions.

Sunk by a Japanese bomb

On 9 April 1942, while moored at the eastern point of Corregidor, "Finch" was damaged by the near miss of a Japanese bomb, her seams opening and fragments of the bomb piercing her hull. The entire crew landed safely, and "Finch" was abandoned to sink the next day, 10 April 1942.

"Finch" received one battle star for World War II service.

References

*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/f2/finch-i.htm