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USS Competent (AM-316)
Encyclopedia
USS Competent (AM-316/MSF-316) was an acquired by the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. Competent was a U.S. Navy oceangoing minesweeper, named after the word "competent", meaning adequate, capable, or fit.
HMS Amelia (BAM-3) was launched 30 January 1943 by General Engineering and Dry Dock Co., Alameda, California
Alameda, California
Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a...
sponsored by Miss M. S. Upton; retained for use by the U.S. Navy; assigned the name Competent and reclassified AM-316, 23 January 1943; and commissioned 10 November 1943, Lieutenant D. D. Long, Jr., USNR, in command.
World War II
Competent arrived in Pearl HarborPearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on 21 January 1944. Eight days later she departed to escort munitions carrier to Majuro
Majuro
Majuro , is a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll itself has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of...
, where Competent swept mines and acted as harbor entrance control and pilot ship from 5 February to 31 March. Returning to Pearl Harbor 7 April she continued to escort convoys to the Marshalls
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
until 15 July. Competent reached Port Purvis 24 August for exercises in the Solomons
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
until 8 September when she sailed to Kossol Passage to sweep and patrol the west entrance during the invasion of Peleliu
Peleliu
Peleliu is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu forms, along with two small islands to its northeast, one of the sixteen states of Palau. It is located northeast of Angaur and southwest of Koror....
. She escorted a convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
back to Port Purvis 13 October, and on 2 November departed for a U.S. West Coast overhaul.
On 8 April 1945 Competent cleared San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, with a convoy bound for Okinawa. From her arrival 20 May she patrolled and screened the transports, then swept mines from 5 July to 25 August. During September she lay at Okinawa, then swept off Chusan Archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
during October. She operated out of Sasebo
Sasebo, Nagasaki
is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the city has an estimated population of 259,800 and the density of 609 persons per km². The total area is 426.47 km². The locality is famed for its scenic beauty. The city includes a part of Saikai National Park...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, on various duties in support of the occupation until 6 March 1946 when she cleared for San Francisco, California, arriving 21 April. She operated on the west coast until placed out of commission in reserve 30 January 1947.
Korean War
Recommissioned 29 February 1952 as a result of the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, Competent put to sea from Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, 7 July and arrived at Sasebo, Japan, 7 August. From this port she swept and patrolled Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n waters until returning to Long Beach, California 5 February 1953. During her second Far Eastern tour from 5 October 1953 to 2 June 1954, she patrolled with task force
Task force
A task force is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology...
TF 95 off Korea to preserve the truce.
Decommissioning and sale
Reclassified MSF-316, 7 February 1955, Competent operated along the west coast until she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 15 April 1955. After seventeen years in "mothballs", she was sold to MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in September 1972. She served in the Mexican Navy
Mexican Navy
The Mexican Navy is the naval branch of the Mexican military responsible for conducting naval operations. Its stated mission is "to use the naval force of the federation for the exterior defense, and to help with internal order". The Navy consists of about 56,000 men and women plus reserves, over...
as ARM Ponciano Arriaga (Cuntil 1988.
Awards
Competent earned five battle stars for World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
service and two battle stars for the Korean War.