USS ''Kite'' (AM-75) was the lead ship of her class of minesweepers of the United States Navy during World War II. The ship was laid down on 18 June 1928 as the fishing trawler M/V ''Holy Cross'' by the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, for F. J. O'Hara and Sons, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts. Launched on 24 November 1928, and delivered on 27 November 1928. Renamed ''Kite'' on 14 August 1940, and acquired by the U.S. Navy on 11 September 1940. Conversion to a minesweeper began on 12 September 1940 by the Bethlehem Steel Co., East Boston, Massachusetts, commissioned as USS ''Kite'' (AM-75) on 3 March 1941, conversion completed in April 1941.

Service history

''Kite'' cleared Boston, Massachusetts, 27 March 1941; and, after training exercises with the mine warfare school Yorktown, Virginia, she operated with the Support Force out 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 ...

. Five months later she sailed for

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 ...

arriving at

Argentia Argentia ( ) is a Canadian commercial seaport and industrial park located in the Town of Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador. It is situated on the southwest coast of the Avalon Peninsula and defined by a triangular shaped headland which r ...

on 31 August for minesweeping operations in the North Atlantic. From August 1941 to 3 May 1944, ''Kite'' swept sea lanes in frigid

waters. Clearing Argentia, ''Kite'' arrived Boston, Massachusetts, on 7 May and was decommissioned on 14 August 1944 at

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

, and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 22 August 1944. Transferred to the War Shipping Administration on 2 March 1945 and sold. Fate unknown.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kite Ships built in Bath, Maine 1928 ships Kite-class minesweepers World War II minesweepers of the United States