USS Serene (AM-300) was an built for 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...

 during World War II

World 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...

. She served in the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 and was awarded six battle stars. She was decommissioned and placed in reserve in 1946. In January 1964, the former Serene was transferred to South Vietnam

South Vietnam

South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...

 as RVNS Nhật Tảo (HQ-10) in the Republic of Vietnam Navy

Republic of Vietnam Navy

The Republic of Vietnam Navy was the naval force of the former Republic of Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. The early fleet consisted of boats from France. After 1955 and the transfer of the armed forces to Vietnamese control, the fleet was supplied from the United States...

. She was sunk in January 1974 during combat with Chinese forces in the Battle of the Paracel Islands.

U.S. Navy career

Serene was laid down on 8 August 1943 by the Winslow Marine Railway and Shipbuilding Co. of Winslow, Washington, launched on 31 October 1943, sponsored by Miss Maxine Noblett, and commissioned on 24 June 1944, Lt. James E. Calloway in command. Following shakedown

Shakedown (testing)

A shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to...

 off southern California

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

, Serene sailed for Pearl Harbor

Pearl 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 29 August. After arriving on 6 September, she performed ocean escort duty on convoy runs from Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 to Eniwetok and San Francisco into December; then participated in fleet and type exercises until mid-January 1945. On 22 January, she got underway to escort Tractor Group Able to the Marianas

Mariana Islands

The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...

 to prepare for the Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...

 campaign.

Screening , flagship of TG 52.3, Serene arrived in the Volcano Islands

Volcano Islands

The Volcano Islands is a group of three Japanese islands south of the Bonin Islands that belong to the municipality of Ogasawara...

 area on 16 February and commenced sweeping operations in an area some 15 miles south of Iwo Jima. On the 17th, her division MinDiv

MinDiv

MinDiv is a standard U.S. Navy abbreviation or acronym for "Minesweeper Division."The Commander of a minesweeper division is known, in official Navy communications, as COMMINDIV , such as COMMINDIV EIGHT....

 36, moved closer to the target area. Through the 18th they cleared the approaches to the landing beaches. As the troops landed on the 19th, the smaller YMS's

Auxiliary Motor Minesweepers (YMS)

Auxiliary Motor Minesweepers were small yard-class minesweepers commissioned by the U.S. Navy for service during World War II. The YMS proved so successful as a type that it eventually became the basis for the AMS class of Navy minesweeper....

 were fuelled; and, from the 20th to the 28th, the minesweepers conducted anti-submarine patrols. Returning to the Marianas on 5 March, Serene departed again on the 7th and headed for Ulithi

Ulithi

Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...

, the staging area for Operation Iceberg, the invasion of the Ryukyus

Ryukyu Islands

The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...

.

Departing Ulithi on 19 March, she swept enemy minefields in the Kerama Retto

Kerama Retto

The are a group of 22 islands located southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Four of the islands are inhabited:,., and. The islands are within Shimajiri District. The Kerama-shotō coral reef is a Ramsar Site....

 on the 25th and 26th; then, after that anchorage was secured, participated in the sweeping operations preceding the main assault on Okinawa. On the 31st, she took up duty as a marker vessel and antisubmarine patrol ship off Kerama Retto. After the 1 April landings on the Hagushi

Hagushi

Hagushi bay was the primary unloading point for American supplies during the invasion of Okinawa during World War II. The bay, at the mouth of the Bishi River , was the dividing line between the First and Sixth US Marine divisions, which landed on the Hagushi beaches to the north, and the Seventh...

 beaches, she continued her patrol duties and provided assistance to damaged shipping. On the 6th she picked up survivors of the SS Hobbs Victory. On the 7th, she resumed sweeping operations in the sea-lanes in the Kerama Retto Okinawa area; and, at mid-month, cleared the approaches to the assault beaches on Ie Shima. On 16 April, she returned to Kerama Retto for availability; then resumed patrol and sweeping duties which she continued until sailing for Ulithi on 4 May.

On 28 May, Serene returned to the Ryukyus in the screen of convoy UOK 16. Early in June, she shifted from Nakagusuku Wan

Nakagusuku Bay

is a bay off the southern coast of Okinawa Island in Japan, at .American soldiers nicknamed the bay Buckner Bay, after General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr....

 (Buckner Bay) to Kerama Retto, off which she performed patrol duty until the 7th; A week later, she resumed sweeping operations which she continued in the Mayako Jima area until the 23d. In early July, she escorted an LST convoy to Leyte

Leyte

Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...

 where she was undergoing overhaul when hostilities ended in mid-August.

Then assigned to post-war minesweeping operations Serene swept mines in the Yellow Sea

Yellow Sea

The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden...

, off Korea, during late August and early September. On 7 September, her group became the Sasebo Sweep Group; and, on the 9th Serene commenced operations to clear the entrance to Nagasaki. For the remainder of the month, she continued sweeping operations off the west coast of Kyūshū

Kyushu

is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....

. In October, she assisted in clearing the eastern end of Tsushima Strait

Tsushima Strait

is the eastern channel of the Korea Strait, which lies between Korea and Japan, connecting the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.The Tsushima Strait is the broader eastern channel to the east and southeast of Tsushima Island, with the Japanese islands of Honshū to the east and northeast, and...

; and, in early November, she returned to the waters off Korea to operate off the east coast in the Sea of Japan

Sea of Japan

The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...

. At mid-month, she resumed operations in the Tsushima Strait to clear the shallow waters at the western end.

On 12 December, she sailed for home. Designated for inactivation Serene arrived at Galveston, Texas

Galveston, Texas

Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...

, on 26 January 1946. On 8 May, she shifted to Orange

Orange, Texas

Orange is a city in Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 18,643. It is the county seat of Orange County, and is the easternmost city in Texas. Located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, it is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur...

 where she was decommissioned on 19 July and berthed with the Texas Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Serene earned 3 battle stars during World War II and 3 during post-war minesweeping operations.

Reclassified MSF-300 on 7 February 1955, Serene remained in reserve until July 1963. Converted to a patrol and escort craft, she was transferred, under the Military Assistance Program, to the South Vietnam

South Vietnam

South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...

 on 24 January 1964. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 on 1 August 1964.

Republic of Vietnam Navy

The former Serene was renamed RVNS Nhật Tảo (HQ-10) in Republic of Vietnam Navy

Republic of Vietnam Navy

The Republic of Vietnam Navy was the naval force of the former Republic of Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. The early fleet consisted of boats from France. After 1955 and the transfer of the armed forces to Vietnamese control, the fleet was supplied from the United States...

 service; nhật tảo translates to “serene”.

On 7 August 1967, North Vietnam

North Vietnam

The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...

ese forces began to overrun Coastal Group 16’s base at Sông Trà Khúc

Tra Khuc River

Trà Khúc River is a river in Vietnam. It is the largest river in Quảng Ngãi Province.It flows through the following places:*Sơn Tây District*Sơn Hà District*Tư Nghĩa District*Sơn Tịnh District*Quảng Ngãi City...

 River, about 70 miles southeast of Đà Nẵng

Da Nang

Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...

. Nhật Tảo delivered heavy fire on enemy forces. and arrived in support. After several hours of naval gun fire, one U.S. and two ARVN

Army of the Republic of Vietnam

The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam , sometimes parsimoniously referred to as the South Vietnamese Army , was the land-based military forces of the Republic of Vietnam , which existed from October 26, 1955 until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975...

 infantry companies arrived and launched a counterattack retaking the base. Nhật Tảo remained on station through the night provide continued fire support.

Nhật Tảo was sunk in early 1974 during an engagement between Republic of Vietnam Navy forces and those of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy

People's Liberation Army Navy

The People's Liberation Army Navy is the naval branch of the People's Liberation Army , the military of the People's Republic of China. Until the early 1990s, the navy performed a subordinate role to the PLA Land Forces. Since then, it has undergone rapid modernisation...

 in a dispute over control of the Paracel Islands

Paracel Islands

The Paracel Islands, also called Xisha Islands in Chinese and Hoàng Sa Islands in Vietnamese, is a group of islands under the administration of Hainan Province, The People's Republic of China. Vietnam and the Republic of China also claim sovereignty of these islands...

. During the Battle of the Paracel Islands, Nhật Tảo took a direct hit from a ship-to-ship missile

Anti-ship missile

Anti-ship missiles are guided missiles that are designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming type, many use a combination of inertial guidance and radar homing...

 on her bridge and went dead in the water. On fire with her guns silent, crew from below deck cleared the guns and renewed the fight. The Chinese again concentrated fire on Nhật Tảo and again her guns fell silent as she began to sink. A few days later, a Dutch tanker and a Vietnamese fishing boat pulled 37 survivors of the sunken Nhật Tảo out of the South China Sea

South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...

.