USS ''Nuthatch'' (AM-60) was an in 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 ...

. ''Nuthatch'' was laid down at the

Defoe Shipbuilding Company The Defoe Shipbuilding Company was a small ship builder established in 1905 in Bay City, Michigan, United States. It ceased to operate in 1976 after failing to renew its contracts with the United States Navy. The site of the former company is ...

Bay City, Michigan Bay City is a city and county seat of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and it is the principal city of the Bay City Metrop ...

on 22 May 1942. She was launched on 16 September 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Charles D. Swain, and commissioned on 19 November 1942.

Service history

Atlantic Fleet, 1942–1944

''Nuthatch'' crossed the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

and steamed down the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

into the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, and proceeded along the east coast for shakedown. Between January 1943 and April 1944, ''Nuthatch'' served in the Atlantic Fleet Convoy Escort Group, operating on the "Sugar" runs. Homeported at Norfolk, Virginia, she operated to and from

Santiago, Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains ...

; Curaçao, Netherlands West Indies;

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

; St. Thomas, Virgin Islands;

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...

; Galveston, Texas; and Port Arthur, Texas; and other small ports in the Caribbean and

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodies ...

area. Convoy organization on these runs consisted of one to three Naval or Merchant Marine cargo vessels and

tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tank ...

escorted by two or three

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

Europe, 1944–1945

''Nuthatch'' departed the United States with her division MinDiv 21, on 7 April 1944 and headed east to Falmouth, in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. There she staged for the much awaited

invasion of France France has been invaded on numerous occasions, by foreign powers or rival French governments; there have also been unimplemented invasion plans. * the 1746 War of the Austrian Succession, Austria-Italian forces supported by the British navy attemp ...

, scheduled for early June. The division sailed from

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...

on 5 June 1944, and before it began sweeping operations lost one of its units, . Early on 6 June, the division started sweeping the coast of France in assault and check sweeps to assure safe passage channels for the landing craft. Sweeping continued after D-Day, and on 15 June, in the

Baie de la Seine The Baie de Seine (Bay of the Seine River) is a bay in northern France. Geography It is a wide, rectangular inlet of the English Channel, approximately 100 kilometres (east-west) by 45 kilometres, bounded in the west by the Cotentin Peninsula, i ...

, a mine exploded close aboard ''Nuthatch'' on the port side forward. While no personnel injuries were incurred, the force of the explosion damaged the hull, stopped the engines, and made all electric gear inoperative. However, within two hours, she was underway again, and soon pulled out of range of German shore batteries. Repairs completed in England, ''Nuthatch'' was soon back on the French side of the Channel. On 25 June as a unit of TF 129, she participated in sweeping operations for the bombardment of Cherbourg. Sweep operations in the area continued until 1 August when, with her entire squadron, COMINRON SEVEN, she headed for

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

and duty with the 8th Fleet. Until 31 May 1945, ''Nuthatch,'' with MinDiv 21, swept mines and escorted ships in the western

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

;

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, Oran,

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Bizerte,

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...

, Palermo, and

La Maddalena La Maddalena (Gallurese: ''Madalena'' or ''La Madalena'', sc, Sa Madalena) is a town and ''comune'' located on the islands of the Maddalena archipelago in the province of Sassari, northern Sardinia, Italy. The main town of the same name is loca ...

being only a few of her stops. On 31 May, ''Nuthatch'' hoisted her homeward bound pennant and got underway for the United States.

Pacific, 1945–1946

Arriving at Hampton Roads on 15 June, ''Nuthatch'' underwent repairs, and on 18 September, sailed for

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

and duty with the Pacific Fleet. She arrived at

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 R ...

on 4 November only to receive orders to return to the United States for inactivation. Arriving at San Diego, on 31 December, she decommissioned on 3 June 1946, and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet. ''Nuthatch'' was redesignated MSF-60 on 7 February 1955 and remained in the Reserve Fleet at San Diego until struck from the Navy List on 1 December 1966. She was sunk as a target for the Pacific Fleet. ''Nuthatch'' earned two

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 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 opposing ...

Notes

References

*
Online DANFS entry
(accessed on 10 January 2006)

External links

at navsource.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Nuthatch (Am-60) Auk-class minesweepers of the United States Navy Ships built in Bay City, Michigan 1942 ships World War II minesweepers of the United States Ships sunk as targets