USS ''Bastion'' (ACM-6) was a in the United States Navy during World War II. ''Bastion'' was originally the USAMP ''Colonel Henry J. Hunt'' (MP-2) — a mine planter built in 1942 at Point Pleasant, West Virginia, by the Marietta Manufacturing Co. for the

U.S. Army Mine Planter Service The U.S. Army Mine Planter Service (AMPS) was an outgrowth of civilian crewed Army mine planter ships dating back to 1904. It was established on July 22, 1918 by War Department Bulletin 43 and placed the Mine Planter Service under the U.S. Army C ...

. She was acquired by the U.S. Navy from the U.S. Army on 4 January 1945, renamed ''Bastion'', converted to an auxiliary minelayer and commissioned at

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 ...

9 April 1945; Lt. Earl D. Fatkin, USNR, Commanding. The ship was transferred to the

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi ...

in 1946 and commissioned USCGC ''Jonquil'' (WAGL/WLB-330 serving until 1969.

Service history

U.S. Navy service

''Bastion'' departed

for the Pacific Theatre on 17 June 1945. She transited the Panama Canal on 23 June 1945 and arrived at San Diego, California 7 July 1945. ''Bastion'' reported to Minesweeping Force Pacific Fleet (ComMinPac) Commander, MINECRAFT, Pacific, at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii in August 1945. ''Bastion'' arrived in the Marianas Islands on 22 August 1945. Although classified a minelayer, she performed minesweeping and repair-ship duties throughout the Marianas during August and September 1945. Between October and December 1945 she continued these duties in the Ryukyu Islands. ''Bastion'' departed Okinawa 17 December 1945 and arrived in Japan 21 December 1945 where she performed further minesweeping and repair-ship duties during the

Occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

until 11 March 1946.

Decommissioning

On 11 March 1946, ''Bastion'' headed home. She was decommissioned on 18 June 1946 at San Francisco, California and was immediately transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 19 July 1946.

U.S. Coast Guard service

The U.S. Coast Guard commissioned her USCGC ''Jonquil'' (WAGL/WLB-330) on 29 August 1946. She was converted to a buoy tender, assigned to the Fifth Coast Guard District and was based out of

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...

. ''Jonquil'' serviced aids to navigation (ATON), participated in search and rescue (SAR) and law enforcement as needed. On 14 March 1950 ''Jonquil'' escorted a disabled trawler to Thimble Shoal in Chesapeake Bay Virginia. On 7 April 1950 she assisted a barge that was adrift. On 19 October 1951 she assisted M/V ''Theofano Livano'' aground near

Cape Henry Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia located in the northeast corner of Virginia Beach. It is the southern boundary of the entrance to the long estuary of the Chesapeake Bay. Across the mouth of the bay to the north is Cape Cha ...

Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. From 11 to 12 December 1951 she towed the disabled M/V ''McKittrick Hills'' to the Chesapeake Lightship where ''McKittrick Hills'' was transferred to a commercial tug. From 26 to 27 February 1952 she assisted a grounded tug, M/V ''Mary Sheridan'' near the

York Spit Light The York Spit Light was a lighthouse located at the mouth of the York River (Virginia), York River in the Chesapeake Bay, marking a long shoal paralleling the main channel into the river. History This light replaced Lightvessel, lightships stat ...

Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. On 11 March 1952 she assisted the disabled F/V ''Elizabeth'' two miles southeast of Turner Lump near

Chincoteague Bay Chincoteague Bay () is a lagoon between the Atlantic barrier islands of Assateague and Chincoteague and the mainland of Worcester County, Maryland and northern Accomack County, Virginia. At the bay's northern end, where it narrows between Assatea ...

, Virginia. On 14 May 1954 ''Jonquil'' assisted a grounded barge near Diamond Marsh, Virginia. In October 1954 she assisted the disabled ferry M/V ''Princess Ann'' near Kiptopeke Beach, Virginia. On 11 April 1956 she assisted M/S ''Paraporti ''aground near Lynnhaven Inlet. ''Jonquil'' was transferred to Morehead City, North Carolina on 1 September 1960. On 27 September 1961 she helped fight a fire aboard USNS ''Potomac'' at

Beaufort, North Carolina Beaufort ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Carteret County, North Carolina, Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. Established in 1713 and incorporated in 1723, Beaufort is the fourth oldest town in North Carolina (after Bath, Nor ...

. On 9 March 1962 she stood by the stern section of the tanker M/S ''Gem'' following her break-up. From 6 to 7 December 1962 she towed the disabled M/Y ''Cid'' for 185 miles to Morehead City, North Carolina. On 28 July 1969 ''Jonquil'' dewatered the schooner S/S ''Chawe Souris'' 19 miles west of the

Frying Pan Shoals Light Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower is a decommissioned lighthouse located on the Frying Pan Shoals approximately southeast of Southport, North Carolina, and from Bald Head Island, North Carolina. The tower is currently privately owned and was form ...

. ''Jonquil'' was decommissioned on 15 September 1969 after 23 years of service in the U.S. Coast Guard.. U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Jonquil_1946.pdf Retrieved: 2 December 2015

References

External links