- USS Weehawken (CM-12)
USS "Weehawken" (CM-12) was originally SS "Estrada Polma" — a car
ferry built in 1920 byWilliam Cramp & Sons atPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania . It was acquired by theUS Navy on15 June 1942 ; renamed "Weehawken" on18 July 1942 ; converted to aminelayer by theBethlehem Steel Co. atHoboken, New Jersey ; designated CM-12; and commissioned on30 September 1942 , Lt. Cmdr. Ralph E. Mills,USNR , in command.World War II North Africa Operations
On
6 October 1942 , USS "Weehawken" moved toBayonne, New Jersey , and, two days later, toTompkinsville, New York . On the 10th, she departed the latter port for the Naval Mine Depot atYorktown, Virginia . She arrived in Yorktown the following day and began drills and exercises in the lowerChesapeake Bay . The minelayer stood out of the Chesapeake Bay on5 November , bound forNew York , and arrived atBrooklyn, New York , the following day. A week later, she put to sea with Mine Division (MinDiv) 50 and aconvoy headed forFrench Morocco . The minelayer dropped anchor inCasablanca harbor on1 December . She remained in port until the 27th when she left to lay a defensiveminefield off Casablanca. USS "Weehawken" returned to port that evening and then repeated the procedure the following day. OnNew Year's Eve , theLuftwaffe ushered in 1943 by subjectingCasablanca and the ships assembled there to a night of intermittent air raids. Fortunately, USS "Weehawken" suffered no damage during those raids and during the encore performed the following evening. Between 6 and10 January , she made a round-trip voyage toGibraltar and back to deliver minelaying equipment. Upon her return, the warship remained at Casablanca until20 January , when she sailed for New York.Return to Stateside
She arrived in New York with the convoy on
7 February and sailed the following day forHampton Roads, Virginia . The ship anchored in the roadstead late on the 9th, unloaded mines at Yorktown, Virginia, on the 10th, and entered theNorfolk Navy Yard on the 11th. Following a seven-week repair period, USS "Weehawken" exited the shipyard onSt. Patrick's Day 1943 and moored at the Naval Operating Base for almost a week before returning to Yorktown, Virginia, on23 March to load mines. For the next 11 weeks, USS "Weehawken" conducted minelaying drills and gunnery exercises in the lower reaches of the Chesapeake Bay. Throughout that span of time, she returned to Yorktown and Norfolk frequently for liberty, provisions, repairs, and the like.Supporting the Invasion of Italy
On
9 June , the minelayer weighed anchor and departed Yorktown, Virginia, and headed for New York. There, she joined a convoy bound forAlgeria . During the crossing, a GermanU-boat apparently attacked the convoy on22 June , for SS|Gulf Stream sank rapidly after suffering an explosion. However, USS "Weehawken" arrived inOran safely on U.S. Independence Day 1943. Two days later, she joined a convoy off Oran and set a course forSicily where she arrived on the 11th, the day following the initial Allied invasion. Throughout that day and most of the next, she laid defensiveminefield s around the invasion beaches atGela on the southern coast of the island. On both days, theLuftwaffe appeared and dropped their explosive greetings to the invasion force. Between 2150 and 2345 on the 11th, USS "Weehawken"'s group underwent a series of heavy attacks; however, the minelayer came through unscathed save for some fragments from a stick of bombs which exploded just off herstarboard bow. On the 12th, she continued operations offGela ; and, around 1740 in the afternoon, German planes returned. The ship's war diary recorded these as "Stuka's," which indicates that they were probablyJunkers Ju 87 dive bomber s. After making a great deal of noise, both the US Navy and the German Luftwaffe emerged from that altercation unharmed. Later that evening, USS "Weehawken" departed Sicily to return toNorth Africa . After stops atBizerte ,Tunisia , andAlgeria , she returned to Oran on17 July . Five days later, the minelayer shifted toMers el-Kebir where she remained until6 September when she sailed for Bizerte. The ship stayed at the Tunisian port from 8 to14 September and returned toMers el-Kebir on the 17th.Return to the U.S. Naval Exercises
After another three weeks at Mers el-Kebir, USS "Weehawken" got underway on
7 October to return to theUnited States . She reached New York on26 October . After 11 days in port, the warship put to sea on6 November for Yorktown, Virginia, where she arrived the following day. For the next five months, she conducted battle practice, minelaying exercises, gunnery drills, and other training evolutions in the lower Chesapeake Bay and at Yorktown, as well as repairs at the Norfolk Navy Yard.Assignment to Pacific Theatre Operations
On
20 April 1944 , USS "Weehawken" received word that MinDiv 50 had been dissolved and that she was to be assigned to theU.S. Pacific Fleet to transport cargo, mines, and equipment to Pacific bases. On the 30th, she completed the availability which she had been undergoing at Norfolk, Virginia, since the 15th and returned to Yorktown, Virginia. She loaded mines and cargo from 7 to9 May and then clearedHampton Roads on the 11th. The minelayer entered thePanama Canal on20 May , reported for duty with the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and joined Service Squadron 6. Completing her transit of the canal in the same day, she continued her voyage up the west coast toSan Diego, California , where she arrived on1 June . Four days later, USS "Weehawken" headed west towardHawaii . After arriving inPearl Harbor on14 June , she unloaded her cargo and spent 11 days atOahu before heading back to the west coast on25 June . On Independence Day 1944, the warship reachedSan Francisco, California , and immediately began alterations at theGeneral Engineering & Drydock Co. located atAlameda, California . She completed the modifications—which included the removal of mine tracks from the after section of her mine deck—on1 August . After embarking passengers and loading cargo, she departed San Francisco on8 August and shaped a course for the South Pacific. During the last two days of August, she passed through theSolomon Islands and stopped atFlorida Island andTulagi from31 August to5 September to disembark passengers and unload some cargo. She madeEspiritu Santo in theNew Hebrides on8 September and began unloading the remainder of her cargo. She embarked another group of passengers and got underway on10 September forPearl Harbor . After a 12-day voyage, she passed though theantisubmarine nets at Oahu and moored inPearl Harbor .Central Pacific Operations
She spent eight days in
Hawaii before embarking upon an extended voyage to the Central Pacific during which she visited a number of islands and bases. On 1 and2 October , she embarked passengers bound forSaipan in the recently wonMariana Islands and, on the latter date, passedDiamond Head and set course for the Central Pacific. USS "Weehawken" made a brief overnight stop atEniwetok Atoll in theMarshall Islands on 13 and14 October and madeSaipan on the 18th. Between 18 and28 October , she unloaded mines, embarked passengers, and loaded cargo. From28 October to1 November , she steamed from Saipan toKossol Roads —in thePalau Islands —where she embarked additional passengers and resumed her voyage. On4 November , she sailed into thelagoon atUlithi Atoll in the westernCarolines . She spent the next two weeks at theatoll . After disembarking her passengers and riding out atyphoon , USS "Weehawken" departedUlithi on the 18th bound for theMarianas . She reachedGuam the next day, took on passengers, and departed again by the 21st. Two days later, the minelayer reentered Ulithi. Early in December, she made a round-trip voyage to thePalaus , returning to Ulithi on the 10th. Five days later, the warship put to sea with a convoy bound forSaipan . She arrived in Saipan on the 17th and remained there five days before returning to sea—bound viaEniwetok to Pearl Harbor where she arrived on8 January 1945 . Four days after her arrival, USS "Weehawken" shifted berths to the navy yard to begin another series of alterations and repairs. On21 February , the ship stood out of Pearl Harbor once again and headed west. It arrived inEniwetok on4 March and, the following day, took leave of the convoy, and departed Eniwetok for Ulithi in company with USS|Facility|AM-233. The two warships entered the lagoon at Ulithi on the 11th, and USS "Weehawken" began duty as a tender for motor minesweepers. Almost a month later on5 April , the minelayer exited theanchorage at Ulithi in convoy with USS|Monadnock|CM-9, USS|Mona Island|ARG-9, and USS|Clemson|APD-31. The convoy passedOkinawa during the mid-morning hours of10 April and anchored inKerama Retto just before 1400. USS "Weehawken" immediately began providing logistic support, tender, and other services to the minesweeping units operating in the 10-day-old occupation of Okinawa. For the next three months, she remained anchored in Kerama Retto except for two occasions—4 June and11 June —when she left theanchorage to evade typhoons. In both cases, she resumed her duties in Kerama Retto immediately after the storm passed.Under Attack by Japanese Planes
Over that span of time, frequent air alerts called her crew to
general quarters as Japanesekamikaze s attempted to drive the American Navy from Okinawa. Though her gunners frequently fired on enemy planes and witnessed their spectacular crashes into other ships, USS "Weehawken" continued to lead a charmed life. On28 April , a kamikaze bore in on her; but, at the last minute,antiaircraft fire from a nearbydestroyer persuaded him to seek easier prey. Instead, he crashed into USS|Pinkney|APH-2 — anchored nearby — and USS "Weehawken" dispatched rescue parties and medical assistance to the mortally wounded hospital evacuation transport. Three days later, she was called upon to render medical assistance again when a suicide plane smashed into minelayer USS|Terror|CM-5. Her gunners tried unsuccessfully to bring down two other kamikazes, one which struck USS|St. George|AV-16 on6 May and another which exploded on USS|Curtiss|AV-4 on21 June . (In the latter instance, USS "Weehawken" rushed fire and rescue parties to the aid of the stricken warship.) On7 July 1945 , USS "Weehawken" stood out of theKerama Retto roadstead and anchored inBuckner Bay . There, she resumed her support duties for the minesweeping forces. Ten days later, she departed Buckner Bay with a mixed force of auxiliaries and motor minesweepers for a brief operation nearUnken Ko . She returned to Buckner Bay early in the morning of22 July and remained there, either anchored or moored nearTsuken Shima , through the end of the war and into September 1945.Damaged by Typhoon Louise - 9-12 October 1945
On
16 September , a typhoon hit the Okinawa area. Late that evening, USS "Weehawken" tried to get underway and to take on the crews of Coast Guard cutters moored nearby. During the operation, she collided with several of the cutters and with buoy tender USS|Woodbine|WAGL-289. After several additional collisions with the cutters and USS|Woodbine|WAGL-289|2, USS "Weehawken" began to drag anchor towardTsuken Shima at 2330. At 0440 on17 September , she struck areef off Tsuken Shima. Fortunately, the typhoon began to subside, and she was towed out of shoal water later that day by ARS-22. She suffered little damage in that scrape and resumed her duties off Tsuken Shima soon thereafter. Following three weeks of routine operations, USS "Weehawken" battled another typhoon. Early in the morning of9 October , steadily increasing winds forced her to use her engines to relieve the strain on her anchor chains. Through the morning, the winds rose steadily to gale force and, by 1400, reached convert|80|kn|mph km/h|0. USS "Weehawken" fought the raging seas; but, at 1522, the chain to the mooringbuoy snapped in two. While playing out the port anchor chain to 95 fathoms and making precautionary preparations to abandon ship, the minelayer collided with a net tender broadside to port. The two ships parted with no apparent damage, and USS "Weehawken"'s crewmen continued their struggle to keep her headed into the wind and relieve the strain on the anchor chain. In spite of their efforts, she continued to drag anchor toward shoal water. At 1550, she collided withLCI-31 but again escaped without major damage. By 1600, the winds reached convert|125|kn|mph km/h|0; and USS "Weehawken" sailed out of control—broadside to the wind—and dragged anchor. At 1700, she ran hard aground and took on a list. She immediately flooded compartments below to return to evenkeel and rested firmly on the bottom. There, she remained through the night battered by wind and sea and with her crew ready to abandon ship at a moment's notice. The following morning, the winds began to slacken and the sea to abate. Between 10 and12 October , theminelayer unloaded the bulk of her provisions and transferred the majority of her crew to USS "Benson" (APA-120)*. On16 October , her hull began to break in two, but askeleton crew remained on board salvaging equipment. On the 31st, a board of inspection and survey convened in USS "Weehawken" to look her over and found her hull to be a complete loss. The board recommended that she be decommissioned, stripped, and destroyed. Accordingly, USS "Weehawken" was decommissioned on11 December 1945 , and her name was struck from theNavy list on3 January 1946 .Note on USS Benson (APA-120)
A "USS Benson (APA-120)" is quoted in the Navy report (above) in error as this ship did not exist. Possible candidates USS|Hinsdale|APA-120 and USS|Admiral W.S. Benson|AP-120 were not in the area at the time.
Awards
USS "Weehawken" earned two
battle stars duringWorld War II .References
ee also
*
List of United States Navy ships
*World War II
*Minelayer External links
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/#Anchor-Editoria-14954 Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/0612.htm NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive - CM-12 Weehawken]
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