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USS Turkey (AM-13)
Encyclopedia
USS Turkey (AM-13) was an acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
Turkey (Minesweeper No. 13) was laid down on 19 August 1917 at Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...
, by the Chester Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 30 April 1918; sponsored by Mrs. W. T. Smith; and commissioned on 13 December 1918, Lt. John H. McDonald in command.
Clearance of World War I mines
Although completed too late to see service during World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Turkey took part in the gigantic operation to clear the mine barrage which had been laid in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
during this conflict. This system of minefields constituted a formidable obstacle to the resumption of trade in the aftermath of the war. After steaming across the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, the new minesweeper arrived at Kirkwall
Kirkwall
Kirkwall is the biggest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, on 20 April 1919 and joined the American forces massing there to begin clearing the shipping lanes between Scotland and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
Turkey strikes a mine
Soon thereafter, Turkey got underway for mine-sweeping operations in the North Sea. During her second operation (which ran from 8 to 29 May), a mine exploded directly beneath Turkey on 16 May. The disabled minesweeper crept to Lyeness, at Scapa FlowScapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
, where she was drydocked for repairs.
Her damage was corrected in time for Turkey to take part in the project's fifth operation, commencing on 22 July. Eight days later, the minesweeper suffered a condenser failure. After receiving a cannibalized unit from the disabled , she resumed operations in mid-August.
Fair weather conditions, unusual for the North Sea, enabled the ships to make excellent progress. While thus engaged, Turkey fouled a mine in her sweep gear; and it exploded close aboard, causing minor damage. However, the ship effected quick repairs at sea and continued operations without missing the proverbial step. By the 16th, Turkey's group had swept a record 1,373 mines.
Oriole damaged by a mine
Deteriorating weather conditions, however, hampered the clearing of group 13, in an operation begun on 5 September. After delaying putting to sea due to heavy fog, the ships got underway to carry out their assignment but seemed dogged with misfortune and bad luck from the beginning. snared a mine which exploded in one of her "kites", damaging both kite and ship and forcing her to limp home. closed Turkey to obtain more sweep wire to replace her depleted stock, but the capricious sea slammed the two ships together, forcing USS Swan out of action and back to port for repairs.Completion of North Sea mine clearance
By November 1919, the colossal job of sweeping the barrage had been completed. On 25 November, Turkey and her 34 sister ships received orders detaching them from duty in the North Sea. Taking on fuel at BrestBrest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Turkey departed European waters but soon ran into bad weather off the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
. Bucking heavy seas and high winds, the ship used a large amount of her fuel and exhausted it completely, long before she reached Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
. Destroyer tender
Destroyer tender
A destroyer tender is a ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of the 20th century as the roles of small combatants have evolved .Due to the increased size and automation of...
passed a towline to the minesweeper and eventually brought her to Bermuda.
Assignment to the Pacific Fleet
Following her return to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Turkey began operating out of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in the waters of the 3rd Naval District. On 17 July 1920, the minesweeper was designated AM-13 when the U.S. Navy adopted its modern alphanumeric system of hull numbers. In 1921, the ship shifted to 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...
to join the Pacific Fleet Train. Based at 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...
, she operated as part of Mine Division 4 and Mine Division 6 until decommissioned there on 12 April 1922.
After 15 years in reserve, Turkey returned to the U.S. West Coast in September 1937 and was fitted out at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California
Vallejo, California
Vallejo is the largest city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 115,942 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the northeastern shore of San Pablo Bay...
. Recommissioned there on 15 August 1938, Turkey subsequently operated out of San Pedro, California, through 1939.
As the Fleet shifted to Pearl Harbor in late 1939 and early 1940, Turkey followed and operated out of Pearl Harbor into 1941. On 7 December of that year, she lay moored in a nest of her sister ships at the Coal Docks at Pearl Harbor, when Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
planes launched a surprise attack on the unsuspecting Pacific Fleet
United States Pacific Fleet
The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...
.
Japanese planes attack Pearl Harbor
A Naval ReserveUnited States Navy Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...
ensign, who had experienced only six months of sea duty, led the ship's defense until her commanding officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
could return to the ship. The crew tumbled to battle stations at the sound of the general quarters
General quarters
General Quarters or Battle Stations is an announcement made aboard a naval warship to signal the crew to prepare for battle or imminent damage....
alarm and quickly manned the main battery of two 3-inch guns. In addition, two Lewis guns atop the tall pilot house went into action. A number of riflemen armed with Springfield 1903 bolt-action rifles roamed the decks looking for good vantage points from which to fire at the attacking planes. Twenty minutes after the raid began, Turkey backed clear of the next ship to improve her field of fire and continued the fight.
When all Japanese planes had departed the area, Turkey and her sister ships labored to salvage the critically damaged battleships which were partially sunk in the mud and oily waters off Ford Island
Ford Island
Ford Island is located in the middle of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It is connected to the main island by the Ford Island Bridge. Before the bridge was built, Ford Island could only be reached by a ferry boat which ran at hourly intervals for cars and foot passengers. The island houses several naval...
. Turkey remained engaged in these operations until 1 April 1942, when she departed Pearl Harbor for Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
n waters.
Pacific Theatre operations
Relieving as station ship at Samoa, Turkey operated in Samoan waters through the end of the year and into 1943. She conducted minesweeping patrols, provided local escort services, and towed targets for the U.S. Marines shore batteries on Samoa. On 1 June 1942, she was reclassified as an ocean-going tugTugboat
A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...
and given the designation AT-143. She also supported Marine raider
Marine Raiders
The Marine Raiders were elite units established by the United States Marine Corps during World War II to conduct amphibious light infantry warfare, particularly in landing in rubber boats and operating behind the lines...
landing exercises.
Discovering castaways
On 14 April 1943, Turkey visited Bowditch Island on an inspection and discovered two castawayCastaway
A castaway is a person who is cast adrift or ashore. While the situation usually happens after a shipwreck, some people voluntarily stay behind on a deserted island, either to evade their captors or the world in general. Alternatively, a person or item can be cast away, meaning rejected or discarded...
s who had been there for nearly a month. The two had been treated well by the local populace and were in good shape. After receiving repairs from 21 April to 30 April, the minesweeper became station ship at Tutuila
Tutuila
Tutuila is the largest and the main island of American Samoa in the archipelago of Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Central Pacific located roughly northeast of Brisbane, Australia and over northeast of Fiji. It contains a large, natural harbor,...
. She returned to Pearl Harbor in June and thence proceeded to the U.S. West Coast and a major overhaul at Mare Island, California. Following trials off the west coast, she headed for 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...
and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 20 October.
Operating out of the Fleet's Hawaiian base, Turkey towed targets for naval aircraft and recovered practice torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es through January 1944. Operating as a unit of Service Squadron 6, she conducted these activities through late February, after which she underwent more repair work at Pearl Harbor from 1 March to 24 April.
Following post-repair trials and practice torpedo-recovery operations in Hawaiian waters, she headed for 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...
on 10 May 1944 — in company with and towing barges YOGL-7 and YW-68 — and arrived at 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...
on 25 May. Five days later, Turkey headed for Kwajalein
Kwajalein
Kwajalein Atoll , is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands . The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island. English-speaking residents of the U.S...
with YF-412 and YF-383 in tow and in company with ATR-46, making port there on 1 June. Upon delivering her tows, she proceeded back to Majuro. Meanwhile, on 15 May 1944, she had been reclassified as an old ocean tug and redesignated ATO-143.
Providing ammunition for the larger ships
On 4 June, she commenced ammunitionAmmunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
replenishment operations at that base for cruisers , , and . For the remainder of the summer, Turkey operated in the Marshalls, towing small barge
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
s between Majuro, Kwajalein, and Eniwetok, undergoing a brief overhaul alongside at Majuro from 29 August to 2 September and conducting harbor operations. Then, on 5 October, she 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...
.
After harbor duty there, she sailed for Ngulu Atoll
Ngulu Atoll
Ngulu Atoll is a coral atoll of three islands in the Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia....
on 17 October to assist in salvage operations for , which had been damaged by a mine explosion earlier that day. She returned to Ulithi on the 23rd and, four days later, assisted the torpedo-damaged into the harbor after the cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
had been struck off Formosa
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
by a Japanese aircraft-launched torpedo.
Sinking of the Mississinewa
While Turkey was towing YOG-21 alongside , the minesweeper's foremast caught in one of the carrier's flight deckFlight deck
The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters and other VTOL aircraft is also referred to as the...
radio antenna braces and was broken in three places. On 21 November, Turkey went to the assistance of the tanker which had been struck by a Japanese manned torpedo. The minesweeper closed to help put out the fires. Despite valiant firefighting efforts, the oiler rolled over and sank some three hours later, the war's first victim of Japan's Kaiten
Kaiten
The Kaiten were manned torpedos and suicide craft, they were used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the final stages of World War II.-History:...
.
Following a short overhaul period at Ulithi in December 1944, Turkey commenced assisting in fueling operations of Fleet carriers there early in January 1945; and, but for a brief drydock period from 9 to 13 January, she continued the task through the end of the month.
Iwo Jima operations
In early February, she assisted in preparations for the Iwo JimaIwo 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...
landings before proceeding, via Kossol Roads
Kossol Roads
Kossol Roads, Palau is a large body of reef-enclosed water north of Babeldaob. During World War II, it was used by the United States Navy as the location of a floating resupply and repair base....
in the Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
s, to San Pedro Bay
San Pedro Bay (Philippines)
San Pedro Bay is a bay in the Philippines, at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf, about 15 km east-west and 20 km north-south. The bay is bounded on the north and east by Samar and on the east by Leyte Island. It is connected by San Juanico Strait to Carigara Bay of the Samar Sea. The...
, off 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...
. Turkey then continued operations as part of the Service Squadron, South Pacific Forces, in harbor activities at Ulithi in March through May 1945. After getting underway again for Leyte on 7 May, she served as a retriever for a tow 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...
, keeping a lookout for barges and other craft which might slip their tows en route. Arriving in San Pedro Bay on 13 May, she commenced harbor operations and continued them until 7 June, when she began 10 days of upkeep alongside .
End-of-war activity
She operated between Leyte and Ulithi through the end of hostilities in mid-August before stopping at Kwajalein on the 24th. On 30 August, she got underway for Hawaii and reached Pearl Harbor on 11 September. From there, she proceeded to San Francisco, CaliforniaSan 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...
.
Decommissioning
Turkey was decommissioned on 6 November 1945; struck from the Navy listNavy List
A Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a country....
on 28 November 1945; and sold and delivered to the Hawley Forge and Manufacturing Co., of San Francisco on 30 December 1946.