USS Triumph (AM-323)
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | HMS Espoir (BAM-23) |
Builder | Associated Shipbuilders, Seattle, Washington |
Laid down | 27 October 1942 |
Renamed | USS Triumph (AM-323), 23 January 1943 |
Launched | 25 February 1943 |
Commissioned | 3 February 1944 |
Decommissioned | 30 January 1947 |
Recommissioned | 28 February 1952 |
Reclassified | MSF-323, 7 February 1955 |
Decommissioned | 29 August 1955 |
Reclassified | MMC-3, 4 December 1959 |
Stricken | 1 March 1961 |
Honours and awards | 6 battle stars (World War II) |
Fate | Transferred to Norway, 27 January 1961 |
History | |
Norway | |
Name | HNoMS Brage (N49) |
Acquired | 27 January 1961 |
Fate | Scrapped, 1978 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Auk-class minesweeper |
Displacement | 890 long tons (904 t) |
Length | 221 ft 3 in (67.44 m) |
Beam | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
Draft | 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m) |
Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
Complement | 100 officers and enlisted |
Armament |
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USS Triumph (AM-323) was a World War II Auk-class minesweeper of the United States Navy.
The ship was laid down as HMS Espoir (BAM-23) for the
In 1961 it was transferred to the Norwegian Navy and served as Brage until 1978
World War II Pacific operations
Following outfitting at Seattle, Washington, and
On 12 August, Triumph stood out of Pearl Harbor with a convoy bound initially for the
On 8 September, she departed Guadalcanal with Task Group (TG) 32.4, the transport screen for the
After stops in the Russell Islands and at
On 11 November, Triumph left the Palaus in company with a
Attacked by Japanese fighter planes
After five days patrolling the San Pedro Bay anchorage against enemy
Just before noon, the minesweeper and her mates reached
Supporting landings at Mindoro
Triumph remained at San Pedro Bay until the afternoon of 12 December when she got underway to participate in the occupation of Mindoro. On the second day out, the task organization came under aerial attack. Just after midday, a kamikaze crashed into the flagship Nashville (CL-43), and the light cruiser was forced to drop out of formation and return to San Pedro Bay with Stanly (DD-478).
Additional raids occurred that afternoon, but they caused no damage. By the morning of 14 December, the unit was passing
At 0225, they began sweeping the invasion approaches. They completed their task less than three hours later and moved out while the invasion force moved in. Later, she joined in sweeps of Pandarochan Bay; then returned to Mindoro Strait to form up for the return to Leyte. At 1830, she departed Mindoro and, after a brief but intense aerial attack at dusk, voyaged peacefully back to the anchorage at San Pedro Bay, anchoring there a little after 0800 on the 18th. For the remainder of the month, she remained at San Pedro Bay and conducted antisubmarine patrols in Leyte Gulf.
Supporting the Luzon invasion
On 2 January 1945, the minesweeper once again departed San Pedro Bay — this time to participate in the initial invasion of Luzon. The four-day voyage to the beaches at Lingayen Gulf was punctuated by a number of Japanese air assaults. An inconclusive air-to-surface battle on the night of 2 January was followed by the first attack in earnest on the 3d. Shortly after dawn, a formation of A6M Zeroes pounced on the convoy. One near-miss of the oiler Cowanesque (AO-79) caused a fire amidships. All ships joined in a withering fire that discouraged suicide runs; and, consequently, no ship suffered a direct hit.
The next morning, enemy planes approached the formation, but combat air patrol downed some and chased others away. On the 5th, general quarters sounded five times before noon, but Triumph observed no planes. Later, three warships peeled off to chase two Japanese destroyers sighted off the convoy's quarter. The enemy ships, however, managed to escape. At 1700, a formation of Aichi D3As hit the task force. Six of them attempted suicide crashes, but only one came close to its target — an LCI — which lost its mast in the encounter. Early the next morning, the force reached its destination off the beaches at Lingayen Gulf.
Between 6 and 9 January, Triumph conducted pre-invasion sweeps of the assault areas in Lingayen Gulf. Though the main
She remained there until 25 January when she headed out to resume action off Luzon. She reached Subic Bay and swept its coastal waters. On 4 February, she departed and headed back to Leyte, stopped at San Pedro Bay from 8 to 13 February, then put to sea once again on her way to the Marianas.
Duty with the Fifth Fleet
Triumph entered
Early in the afternoon of 19 March, Triumph sailed put of the lagoon at Ulithi with the Ryukyu Islands invasion force. When she arrived at her destination early on the morning of the 24th, Triumph and her division mates joined the Shea (DM-30) and a patrol craft in minesweeping operations. On the 26th, the destroyer Halligan (DD-584) struck a mine, and it caused explosions in her forward magazine which ripped off most of her forward section. Two ships of Triumph's unit proceeded to assist the stricken warship but managed to rescue only 172 members of Halligan's 325-man complement.
The following day, the division swept 15 mines of which Triumph claimed three. On the 28th, her formation endured its first air raid of the campaign when three enemy planes dived in to attack. The formation shot all three done. The minesweeper continued sweeping operations through the end of the month. She and her colleagues concluded their mission on the eve of the landings, 31 March, and began duty with the task force's antisubmarine screen.
At 0600 the following morning —
Screening for kamikazes
During the ensuing four months, Triumph alternated screening duties with
The
Under attack by a torpedo plane
On 15 June, however, she experienced another potentially fatal adventure. At dusk, Triumph was patrolling north of
Triumph remained in Kerama Retto through the end of June. On the 30th, she got underway to rehearse for sweeps into the
However, just before beginning that mission, she was detached from the East China Sea minesweeping force and was ordered to report to task force TF 39 for further orders. On 17 July, she was forced to leave the anchorage at Buckner Bay to evade a typhoon. After serving in the antisubmarine screen of the ships forced out of the anchorage, the warship returned to Buckner Bay on 21 July and remained there, awaiting orders, until 5 August. On that day, she stood out of the bay as a unit in the screen of a convoy of tank landing ships.
Japan capitulates
Two days later, she took PGM-11 in tow after the latter ship suffered an engine casualty. On the 11th, Triumph parted company with the convoy to tow PGM-11 into Apra Harbor, Guam. With Pledge (AM-277) and YMS-341 in escort, the minesweeper entered Apra Harbor on the morning of 12 August. Three days later, she received word of the Japanese capitulation.
Triumph remained at Guam for a month undergoing repairs. She departed on 12 September to participate in the occupation of Japan and former Japanese possessions. She served her entire tour of occupation duty at Okinawa, arriving there on 18 September and departing again on 19 October.
Stateside overhaul and decommissioning
After stops at Guam and Hawaii, she returned to the United States at San Francisco, California, on 15 December. She underwent an extensive overhaul at the
Peacetime operations
Triumph remained in reserve at San Diego until early 1952. After extensive preparations during the late fall of 1951 and the winter of 1952, she was recommissioned at San Diego on 28 February 1952. The warship reported for duty with the
Exit from U.S. service
There, she remained until late in 1959. During that period, she changed designations again on 4 December 1959 when she was redesignated Coastal Minelayer MMC-3. Late in 1959, the decision was made to transfer her to Norway under the Foreign Military Assistance Program.
HNoMS Brage (N49)
On 27 January 1961, she was transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy. Her name was struck from the U.S. Navy List on 1 March 1961. She served the Norwegians as Brage until 1978.
Awards
Triumph was awarded six
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- Photo gallery of USS 'Triumph' (AM-323/MSF-323/MMC-3) at NavSource Naval History
- USS Triumph (AM-323, MSF-323 & MMC-3), 1944-1961
- Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945 AM-323 USS Triumph
- uboat.net - USS Triumph (AM 323)