USS ''Facility'' (AM-233) was an built for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The ship was ordered and

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

as USS ''PCE-906'' but was renamed and reclassified before her June 1944 launch as ''Facility'' (AM-233). After earning three

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

s for service in the Pacific during World War II, she was decommissioned in September 1946 and placed in reserve. While in reserve, ''Facility'' was reclassified as MSF-233 in February 1955 but never reactivated. In October 1962, she was sold to the Mexican Navy and renamed ARM ''DM-04''. Her ultimate fate is not reported in

secondary source In Scholarly method, scholarship, a secondary sourcePrimary, secondary and tertiary ...

s; she may have been out of service by April 1973 when another member of the ''Admirable'' class was acquired by the Mexican Navy and given the name ''DM-04''.

U.S. Navy career

Initially named ''PCE-906'' and classed as a , the ship was

on 29 March 1944 at the

Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company was a major shipbuilding and construction company, located in Seattle, Washington, on the southwestern corner of Harbor Island, an artificial island in Elliott Bay. The Bridge and Dredging Company created t ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. Renamed ''Facility'' and converted to an , she was launched by sponsor Miss Clara Lee Davis on 22 June 1944. After completion, she was commissioned on 29 November 1944. ''Facility'' underwent

shakedown Shakedown may refer to: * Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation * Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational * Extortion, ...

training and proceeded to

San Pedro, Los Angeles San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...

, and thence to

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, arriving on 17 February. After escorting the minelayer to

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...

early in March, ''Facility'' began sweeping under the command of Task Group TG 52.5 preliminary to the assault landings on

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

on 1 April. She continued to support the operation until damaged by a near miss during a heavy suicide attack and was forced to put into

Ulithi Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest i ...

on 22 April for repairs. She resumed sweeping operations, and, after replenishing supplies in

Buckner Bay is a bay on the southern coast of Okinawa Island on the Pacific Ocean in Japan. The bay covers and ranges between to deep. The bay is surrounded by the municipalities of Uruma, Kitanakagusuku, Nakagusuku, Nishihara, Yonabaru, Nanjō, all in ...

, joined Task Group TG 52.4 to participate with TG 52.3 in clearing the approaches to Nagasaki, Japan. Late in September she swept the

Bungo Suido The is a strait separating the Japanese islands of Kyushu and Shikoku. It connects the Pacific Ocean and the Seto Inland Sea on the western end of Shikoku. The narrowest part of this channel is the Hōyo Strait. In the English-speaking world, t ...

and other areas of the

Inland Sea An inland sea (also known as an epeiric sea or an epicontinental sea) is a continental body of water which is very large and is either completely surrounded by dry land or connected to an ocean by a river, strait, or "arm of the sea". An inland se ...

. The rest of the year was occupied in overhaul at

Hiro Wan The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osa ...

and in sweeping the Van Dieman Straits. In the first two months of 1946 ''Facility'' journeyed from

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

, and

before making her first return to the States. She underwent overhaul at

, transited the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

on 22 March, and on to

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

. While she remained in reserve at Galveston, she was reclassified as a Fleet Minesweeper (Steel Hull), MSF-233 on 7 February 1955. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 May 1962 and sold to Mexico on 2 October. USS ''Facility'' received three

s for

service.

Mexican Navy career

The former ''Facility'' was acquired by the Mexican Navy on 2 October 1962 and renamed ARM ''DM-04''. Her fate is not reported in

secondary source In Scholarly method, scholarship, a secondary sourcePrimary, secondary and tertiary ...

s; she may have been out of service by April 1973 when another member of the ''Admirable'' class was acquired by the Mexican Navy and also named ''DM-04''.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Facility (AM-233) PCE-905-class patrol craft Admirable-class minesweepers Ships built by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company 1944 ships World War II patrol vessels of the United States World War II minesweepers of the United States Admirable-class minesweepers of the Mexican Navy