USS ''Verdin'' was a of the

US 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 of ...

that served 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 ...

. Laid down as ''PCS-1439'' on 5 September 1943 at

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, by the Gibbs Gas Engine Co.; redesignated ''YMS-471'' on 27 September 1943; launched on 23 May 1944; and commissioned on 27 October 1944.

Service history

World War II

Following brief shakedown training, ''YMS-471'' proceeded to

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, and began escorting coastwise convoys and conducting minesweeping operations. That duty ended in April 1945 when she was transferred to the Pacific Fleet. After a long voyage which took her by way of 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 ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

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 ...

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 ...

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, and

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, the minesweeper finally joined the 3rd Fleet off

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 ...

in June. During the last week of the month, she and the other ships of Mine Squadron (MinRon) 105 swept mines from the

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 ...

Kerama Retto The are a subtropical island group southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Geography Four islands are inhabited: Tokashiki Island, Zamami Island, Aka Island, and Geruma Island. The islands are administered as Tokashiki Village and Zamami Vill ...

, and Unten Ko areas of the Ryukyus. In July, ''YMS-471'' ventured into the

East China Sea The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...

for mine disposal operations.

Post-war

At the time Japan capitulated, the minesweeper was undergoing repairs at San Pedro Bay,

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. Soon thereafter, she headed north to begin the monumental job of clearing mines from waters around Japan for transports bringing American occupation forces and supporting shipping. She concentrated on sweeping the approaches to the island of

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

and remained at the task from 8 September 1945 until 20 February 1946, when she began preparations for the voyage back to the United States. The minesweeper reached the west coast in April 1946 and returned home to Charleston in June to begin demobilization. Though never actually decommissioned, she remained inactive at Charleston until early in 1947, when she embarked upon a refresher training cruise in the

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. She also participated in a fleet exercise held off

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. On 18 March 1947, near the conclusion of the exercise, ''YMS-471'' was renamed ''Verdin'' and was re-designated AMS-38. After a tour of duty at Yorktown, Virginia, serving as a training platform for the students of the Mine Warfare School, ''Verdin'' returned to Charleston in November where she remained until the following spring. In April 1948, she entered the

Charleston Naval Shipyard Charleston Naval Shipyard (formerly known as the Charleston Navy Yard) was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston. H ...

for repairs and then put to sea once again for refresher training put of

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

. In November, the minesweeper participated in cold weather fleet exercises off

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

before returning to warmer waters. This time, she reported to Panama City, Florida, for duty at the Navy's mine countermeasures research facility. For the next six years, ''Verdin'' alternated between mine warfare research duty at Panama City and mine warfare school ship operations at Yorktown. Periodic overhauls, mine and convoy exercises, and refresher training punctuated these two primary assignments. In November 1954, ''Verdin'' transferred back to Charleston where she became

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

for Mine Division 43. She spent her last eight active months there as an operational unit of the Mine Force. On 7 February 1955, she was redesignated MSC(O)-38. On 1 July 1955, she reported to Green Cove Springs, Florida, for inactivation. There, she went into reserve on 30 August 1955. A little over four years later, on 1 November 1959, her name was struck from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the 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 author ...

. No documents have been found giving details of her final disposition.

References

External links

Photo gallery
at navsource.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Verdin (Yms-471) PCS-1376-class minesweepers YMS-1-class minesweepers of the United States Navy Ships built in Jacksonville, Florida 1944 ships World War II minesweepers of the United States